Bean town

We've made it to Boston. The drive, flight, T ride, and short car ride were all painless and efficient. There were bagels for breakfast. In case you didn't know: New England is old, dirty, worn. It's okay with itself, it has accepted it's identity, it is what it is. This makes it comforting.

Being in the north is also exciting due to good friends, good family, and good food. Again, the NY Times is talking about central Vermont's cuisine, apparently it's all the rage these days. Fresh ingredients? Lovingly prepared? Who would've thought?

Have I told you lately

Piggy popover
Originally uploaded by average lavender

...that I love breakfast? It is, by far, my favorite meal of the day. I'm not keen on pancakes (but have come to terms with cornmeal pancakes), but adore waffles. I don't want whipped cream or piles of strawberries, in fact, I don't even really want that fruit cup. I don't want powdered sugar or blueberry pancake syrup. I want bacon and butter, I want a savory breakfast. Sweets have a place in the day: dessert., or even snack. My absolute favorite breakfast food is a popover - four popovers, to be precise. They're so simple! So amazingly delicious! Eggs, milk, flour, salt. Seriously, that's it! I devour them with butter, my mom prefers them with peanut butter and jam.

London Bridge is not the only thing falling down

Wall removal
Originally uploaded by average lavender

George and I are helping one of his co-workers renovate a house. Yesterday we started tearing down drywall, plaster and lath, and tearing up old disgusting linoleum. Whoever worked on the house in the past did a swell job of patching the place together in the most half-hearted way. Some insulation had been sprayed around the water pipes and the front door in the kitchen, the rest of the kitchen walls were completely uninsulated. In the walls we found: a AAA card, an empty Marlboro carton, a tiny rusted wrench, and the original window weights. Today we head back to clean up our giant mess.

Big Crafty, big news

The Big Crafty was a huge success and not only for us, personally.  There were over 100 vendors and a pretty constant flow of people starting before it actually began at noon and straight through until we were packing up.  People were astounded by how thin George made his bowls.  There was another old dude there selling bowls, thicker, clunkier bowls and he kept coming back and checking in with George to see how well his were selling.  (They sold just fine, thankyouverymuch.) People were surprised by how tiny my tiny books were,  were intrigued by the earrings, and thought the paintchip books were a great idea but not great enough to buy.  There are a couple more holiday markets we may try and weasel our way into.  

In the meantime, we've both opened Etsy shops which you can find here and here! Maybe you've already noticed the fancy Etsy sidebar thing George put in...  

In other news:  My job and I have parted ways!  It's an incredibly exciting, sudden development - my wrists and shoulders are already feeling better.  Who knew that moving hundreds of pounds of dough and pans around would be such a big deal?  

sawyer brand

sawyer brand
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

business update:

-finished brand for bowls.
-sold three on etsy! (one to Iran. thanks!)
-need to cut bases off five bowls for the craft show on Sunday.
-bought a speed regulator to slow down the lathe, but it turns out the motor draws too many amps. blew the fuse instantly.
-maybe I should just get a smaller/slower motor.
-also need a reversing switch for sanding.
-and a smaller faceplate (1 1/2" x 8tpi)

-I've recieved lots of interest in podbarks for newer ipods.
-the Mountain Xpress mentioned me in passing!
-ordered two 2'x8' sheets of veneer for podbarks (walnut & cherry. maple hasn't sold very well).
-finished patterns for more versions of ipod.
-got quotes from a local laser cutter.

-still making fuel at Blue Ridge Biodiesel.

-started working for Charles, a local contractor.

-feeling a bit overwhelmed.

---------------

Girl had her staples and cone removed today!

Big Crafty, small earrings.

Book earrings
Originally uploaded by average lavender

These little fellas are about 5/8" square.

Thanksgiving and beyond

Recuperating Lady
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The day started with me scrambling to complete some mix cds before heading to work. It's not that I minded working on a holiday, it's that I felt sort of used, taken advantage of. No holiday pay, no "thanks for working on this holiday that the rest of the company has off," no sandwich. Someone left the big hood vent on all night so the kitchen was about thirty degrees. The dough gave me little trouble.

The celebratory part of our day was spent with Hope, Mal, and her parents at their wonderfully secluded house outside of Asheville. There was amazing brined turkey, incredible dressing (my favorite part of the meal), brussel sprouts, green beans, gravy, rolls, and of course, pumpkin pie with homemade ice cream. Amazing. Delicious.

The exciting part of the day we spent at REACH, the emergency vet. Girl came in with us when we got home and she quickly settled down onto the bed. It wasn't until a couple hours later when I pulled the covers on the bed up that Girl freaked out: hissing, growling, yawling, and gently limping away. When she settled down again we notice one of her back feet clenching and releasing and then that whole side of her body clenching and releasing, along with her head wobbling around. After waiting a little over an hour in the exam room the vet agreed that Girl would need to be anesthetized if they were going to get a good look at her leg. We left Girl with her and headed home for some much needed sleep. At six a.m., after check-up phone call, after nine staples and one e collar later,we headed back to bring her home. All we could squeeze out of the vet tech guy and the copy of the papers he gave us was that she had "punctures" - whether they're from another animal or not, we have no idea.

Immediately after being released from her carrier the e collar (aka: stupid plastic cone around her head) scratched along the floor and scared her to her little kitty core and sent her rocketing around the house flailing her head around. She's quarantined in our bedroom, the e collar has been trimmed back so it doesn't drag on the floor, and she gets her pain killers and antibiotics every twelve hours. Boy is seriously uneasy about her. He looks at her as though she's completely off her rocker.

Girl's incident comes on the heels of another sad cat incident: my mom's cat, Yoda, suddenly died a few days ago. We adopted Yoda after my cat Annika was put down due to leukemia when she was a year old. Yoda was named Yoda because when she was little her ears tended to lie flat and my family is kind of nerdy. Yoda is survived by Mischief, adopted at the same time as Annika and Elizabeth, who happened into our lives a grumpy, stand-offish cat (hence the nickname, Elizabitch), and who has found a home and chilled out, finally.

So on this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for cats, vets, good family, good friends, and the roof over my head. Also, food.

Oh! AND after at least a year of waiting and probably many many years of meaning to do it it's finally happened: my mom has gained Irish citizenship!

Vance Craft Explosion

Vance Craft Explosion
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Okay, so it ended up being more like a...pool of stagnant craft? Craft show and tell? Adorable-because-it's-so-small-quaint-slow-and-kind-of-sad craft experience? Two pretty sad points: 1) two vendors left early, at four, instead of sticking it out until five 2) the bake sale had no baked goods.

We were, surprisingly, prepared. Last night George put together our booth - made from palettes, some boards we had lying around - and painted the faces of the palettes with some $3 blue paint from Lowe's. To our right: Dogwood Digs, makers of a wide assortment of kids clothes and accessories. To our left: Slaphappy, two cool ladies recycling clothes into way more awesome clothes. (Note: find their stuff at Twice Round in W. Asheville.)

Much to my surprise the paint chip books didn't sell...at all. Predictably, the tiniest books (1"x1") sold very well. (There were only five.) Interestingly, three of the tiny books were purchased by different, unassociated women with the intent of being used for "fairy secrets" by small girls.

George sold one bowl, but received many, many compliments on them. We think they'll sell better at the Big Crafty and, hopefully, Etsy.

Now we're going to clean up the site of the real Craft Explosion: our house.

Sneak peek

little books
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Vance Elementary is on Sulpher Springs, which is off of Haywood - super easy to find .

I've been spending all of my free time working on things for this Craft Explosion and I feel pretty good about them. There are little ones, big ones, medium ones, hopefully there will be ones with pockets, there are elastic closures, and there'll be a tiny box set or two.

It's exciting and gratifying to work on these books, it's something I love doing just as much as I love baking. That should have been my first clue - like baking this booking is wrecking my hands and shoulders. Over the course of a day I go from being motivated and thrilled to being mournful and self-pitying. Luckily all the books are blank and don't expound on it.

Be there.

C'mon, Asheville!  The holidays are coming and you know you have some shopping to do.  You also know you want to do it responsibly and support your local artists, so I expect to see you and all of your friends Sunday (unless you're legitimately out of town on a business trip.)  

Bowl 1

Bowl 1
Originally uploaded by average lavender

I hadn't realized just how much I missed making things.

I finally found some cherry logs yesterday at the local Sunrise Sawmill. Just in time too, we're signed up for a craft fair next Sunday, and then the Big One on December 7.

Here are a couple of things I've been reading:

Humanure. a fascinating compost book. read it.

Clusterfucknation. take it with a grain of salt. or two.

Weekday update

dried leaves
Originally uploaded by average lavender

We voted. We winterized the lawnmower we never got to work, we put plastic over the picture window that doesn't open. We suddenly got a new roof put on the house. We went back to Verizon.

We also had a small pumpkin carving party! I got our pumpkins at a church up the road and am pretty sure George and I got a weird chemical burns from the pesticides used on the pumpkin: burning, redness, soreness. The party also featured: roofers roofing until 7:30 or 8pm, a pretty but seriously flawed pumpkin cheesecake, a clear picture of how our home is not ready for any guest entertaining.

We did not give out any candy or really celebrate Halloween in any other way. I worked all night and George turned all the lights off. However, before he could get the lights off a couple of kids came to the door:

Knock, knock, knock
George opens the door, sees two middle school dudes.
Dudes: "Trick or treat, we're kids who're too lazy to dress up."
George: "Well, I'm the guy who's too lazy to buy candy."
Dudes: "We'll expect double the candy next year."
Later, when I came home, I notice that our friend's pumpkin had disappeared.
Conclusion: disgruntled lazy dudes stole one of our pumpkins because they didn't receive any candy.

We took the time to hit up the NC Arboretum on Saturday while it was in the 60's and sunny. We walked one of the trails and decided to save the rest (bonsais!) for another day.

We've been chilly (me), sick (George), and achy (both). The kittens have been hogging all the blankets and space on the couch and bed.

We may try and have a table at The Big Crafty this December. Unlike SF, Asheville doesn't feel quite so intimidating for starting some sort of small, vogue crafting biz. As a warm up, I've paid to have a table at the Craft Explosion happening at the elementary school at the head of our street. George is ready to start turning some bowls as soon as he gets his grease-stained, dry, rugged hands on some wood and I'm sewing up some notepads and blank books with my ever increasingly RSI stricken hands.

We also are hoping to be home this holiday season, particularly December 29 through January 4. It mostly depends on whether I get this time off from work, which I've already requested. We're hoping to get someone(s) to drive at least one of the directions with us. (Curtis? James? Jenna? Halley? Anyone?)

news

more press about hardiwick's food:

http://www.gourmet.com/travel/2008/10/hardwick-revival

apparently our cross country trip wasn't that original:

http://www.algonquin.com/products/9781565125957/

though we did have 2 cats, 4 bikes, a bunch of houseplants, a trunk full of stuff, and went at the hottest time of the year, without AC. 

the best bowl of oatmeal. ever.

the best bowl of oatmeal. ever.
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Fall weather's finally arrived. I'm celebrating with an incredible bowl of steel cut oats. Here's the recipe from Cook's Illustrated:

3 cups water
1 cup whole milk (or water)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or oil)
1 cup steel cut oats
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Simmer water and milk over medium heat. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat until just beginning to foam; add oats and toast, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until golden and fragrant with butterscotch-like aroma, 1.5 to 2 minutes.
2. Stir oats into the simmering liquid, reduce heat to medium-low; simmer gently, until mixture thickens and resembles gravy, about 20 minutes. Add salt and stir lightly with spoon handle. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon handle, until oats absorb almost all liquid and oatmeal is thick and creamy, with a pudding-like consistency, about 7 to 10 minutes. Off heat, let oatmeal stand uncovered 5 minutes.

I realize it's a bit involved for a bowl of oatmeal, but it's worth every minute. You'll never think of oatmeal the same way again. Don't forget to stir with the spoon handle, it makes the consistency just right. Apparently the Scottish have a tool dedicated to this task, it's called a spurtle.

Ridic.

A recap of the events on our street this morning:

10 a.m.   Dude from the city puts a note in our mailbox saying that they're "resurfacing" our street tomorrow and the day after.

10:30 a.m.   Two dudes from the city walk down either side of the street with gas-powered leaf blowers clearing the street.

11 a.m.   Maintenance dude for the elderly couple across the street uses electric leaf blower to clear their lawn - blowing all the leaves into the street.

12:15 p.m. Maintenance dude uses electric leaf blower to usher leaves he's just blown into the street around to the drive way, consequently blowing a bunch back on to the lawn.

12:22 p.m. Maintenance dude is apparently blowing all the leaves up the driveway?  

Somehow, I feel that if he had just used a RAKE on the lawn in the first place this whole thing wouldn't feel quite so  awful and wasteful and he would have had a little exercise which he looks like he could stand.  

Update:  12:43 p.m.   He's got a rake!  Continuing to move them up the driveway.  Smoking a cigarette.  

Birds, cupcakes

The bird that Boy caught.
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Boy and Girl managed to sneak this bird through the kitchen door when I wasn't looking.  I thought I heard a car door shut, so I went to the office room and even then I didn't notice the bird!  Was it alive when they brought it in?  How long had they been playing with it?  George buried him in the grub-filled compost. 

On a more delicious note: I tried making some Mocha Stout Cupakes this past Wednesday.  I used a recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake I found over here.  One of the local breweries does a mocha stout, so it seemed a natural, possibly superior, beer for the cake.  In the end I was left feeling, "Meh."  Some changes I made to the reicpe, aside from beer substitution, were using unsweetend cocoa and Dutch process cocoa (which resulted in halving the amount of baking soda called for - check it out: baking science), and using 1/2 cup less sugar than called for.  I was aiming for a less sweet cake that would let the stout shine through.  What I got was a cake that was less sweet but just sort of tasted like it had more sour cream than it actually did.  I think that in addition to reducing the sugar, the cocoa should've also been reduced - it's a mocha stout, duh.  Better luck next time.

bowl lathe

bowl lathe
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

It's finally coming together! I'm just waiting on the local woodworking store to order another 2ft of belt for the big pulley. I have a bit more engineering to do on the tool rest. Oh, and I need to find some wood.

I found Bruce and Loy! For those of you who don't know them, they're old friends of the family, and live only and hour away in Celo. Loy had an opening of her latest prints and letterpress at Warren Wilson College. Bruce played the fiddle. They turned off all the lights and sang for us.

Hardwick in the NY Times?

It's true!  My friend Alex brought this great article to my attention:  Uniting Around Food to Save an Ailing Town.  

Oh, Hardwick, I'm so proud of you. 

For real

Legwarmers
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Slowly I've been making progress on a pair of legwarmers and a hat, both gifts, both should have been done ages ago.  I'm finally getting lace knitting down - I knew it couldn't be that difficult, I mean, other people do it.  

Acupuncture is beginning to help again, last week was one of the absolute worst - the elbow, the shoulder, the neck, headaches all day.  It was another episode of Self Pity: My Life is Over.  It's not so much my life anymore, just maybe ... this shitty job is over...when I find an awesome new one?

Happily, we rearranged the house! I no longer need to search for a room divider and it feels much more comfortable and homey. There are pictures, explanations, etc. over at Flickr.  We consolidated the desks and the coziness, the dining area is on the mend.  

I cut my right pointer finger across the first knucle with a serrated knife at work on Sunday.   Barak Obama was in Asheville this weekend, he gave a speech over at the high school and apartently got some ribs at the local rib joint, 12 Bones.  I wish I'd been there seeing him speak instead of slicing my finger open--they happened at approximately the same time.   

Our contract with Verizon has finally ended and we're shopping around for a new cell phone company. Front runner: Credo Mobile. I think deep down they're all evil and no one is better than another. Better to go slightly cheaper or lesser of two evils?

I leave you with this:  Cuppie Capers: Pastry Politics

Empty promises?

I swear I'm going to make some sort of "real" post here today.  Just not right now.  There will be pictures.  Maybe some snacks.  Stay tuned.

Soup & the decorating scoop

While Asheville is suffering through the gas crisis George and I marvel at how little it's effecting us.  So far as we can tell, there's no predicted shortage of biodiesel and the little single gallon tank on the scooter is full, but mostly we don't go very far even when we do drive.  I thoroughly enjoy my life revolving mostly around home right now: knitting, cooking, baking, attempted home decorating, garden watching are all at my disposal.  

The latest food craze around here is carrot soup.  Now that the weather is cool and we're both working with little time to make lunches, soups are our new best friends.  Yesterday I made the Herbed Carrot Soup* from the Moosewood Cookbook and after George snatched it away for the pot luck Wednesday at work, I started in on the Gingered Carrot Soup from the previous page.  The herbed soup was lacking something and I'm pretty sure it was enough herbs. And lemon juice.  In case you'd like follow along at home:

Gingered Carrot Soup

from "The Moosewood Cookbook"

2 lbs. carrots

4 cups water

1 Tbs. butter or oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs. freshly grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp each: cumin

                        ground fennel

                        cinnamon

                        allspice

                        dried mint

3-4 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 cup lightly toasted cashews

1) Peel and trim carrots and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place in a medium-large saucepan with the water, cover and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until very tender (10-15 minutes.)

Meanwhile...

2) Heat the butter in a small skillet.  Add onion and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Add garlic, ginger, salt and spices.  Turn heat to low and continue to saute for another 10 minutes - until onions are very soft.  Stir in lemon juice. 

3) Use a food processor/blender (or swanky immersion blender you got for Christmas) to puree everything together (including the toasted cashews.)  You may need to do this in multiple batches.  Transfer it all back into a dutch oven and heat gently before serving.

The changes I made included: omitting the fennel and mint because I had none, adding a potato, and sauteing the onions & co. in the bottom of the big pot and then adding water, carrots, etc.  Will it be delicious?  Perhaps.  Next on my list of soups are the Brazilian Black Bean and Susan's Easy Woodbury Chili.  

Now I'm going to share my home decorating woes with you.  Number one is that what little wall-worthy art we have is all miniscule for these walls - I don't know how to hang these without them swimming in a vast sea of wall color or without the walls become wicked cluttered.  Number two is that I'm still searching for an awesome room divider.  After dreams of a big Ikea bookcase turned to nightmares I'm finally moving on.  It would be great to do something so hip and so DIY like ladders with planks - but where do people find those oh-so worn and loved magical ladders?  I'm still considering the curtain divider which has potential to be neat, but also potential to be torn down instantly by Boy.  C'mon personal think tank, give me some ideas!

I leave you this afternoon with my next culinary task: Pine Nut Tartelettes.

*An interesting note:  while making this, the simmering carrots, onions, and potatoes smelled exactly like my grandmother Jane's kitchen.  

2 weeks

work
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Well, I'm still employed. This is our building. So far it's been a lot of pump fixing and plumbing and spilling oil. Wednesday the whole building has a potluck lunch. Good people. Sadly, the giant woodshop on the 4th floor is moving.

On the upside, I got a lead on a design job. The guy who helped us dig for a retaining wall footing is a civil engineer and knows all kinds of architects and builders. He got me in touch with these guys. Tensile structures... also known as tents.

Three things

Firstly, if you'd be so kind as to head on over to the Pabst Blue Ribbon site, verify your age, follow the 'art gallery' link in the lower right corner, verify your age again, click on 'gallery' and take a gander at the fourth image from the left, that'd be great.  What you're seeing is the awesome piece my friend Amanda painted for PBR's contest!  

Secondly, I apologize about being the lamest blogger but work's been taking it's toll on my wrists and soul.  Naturally the discomfort hasn't deterred me from knitting; I'm almost finished the hat for Yannick and am plugging away on some amazing belated birthday legwamers for Hope.

Thirdly, where have all the good room dividers gone?  (HINT: Not our house.)  

Pissing in the wind. Err..intersection

I would like to direct your attention to this blog post over at Ashvegas.  What's peeing on an electrical box at a busy intersection got to do with me?  I'm the one standing on the corner trying to cross the street away from the peeing dude.  I mean, seriously.  

For all y'all with repetitive stress injuries...

...don't make an apple pie.  Don't peel and chop the apples yourself, at least.

Harvest

Harvest
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Around here the days go by slow and lately there's nothing to show for the passage of time - except these vegetables. Out of the three squash plants we've got the big papa squash, the medium mama squash, and the baby squash - big papa's the only one producing. It was beginning to feel as though we weren't going to be able to eat anything from the garden this year, like it was a dry run.

Seriously though, aside from the garden, the air is like molasses in this house--especially today. Sure, we didn't get up until 9:30, but that's because I didn't get home until 11 or 11:30 from work and then not to sleep until 1:30 or 2. The sky looks like a full lint trap and it's been dead quiet all day. We're having cereal for dinner and, if nothing more exciting comes along, I'm going to watch some Star Trek and make big plans for tomorrow. You're in luck, here's the preliminary plan:
- make a pie
- make more hummus so George can eat it all again
- call acupuncture place again, hope they answer the phone or call me back
- whip up some pizza dough

Employed!

At least part time. I'm going to start learning about biodiesel production on monday. The pay is terrible, but the people are great. They're in an amazing turn of the century grocery warehouse, now called the Phil Mechanic Studios. The upper three floors, as you may have guessed, are artist studios and galleries. That means opportunities for showing furniture and bowls or whatever.

Oh, everybody should download google chrome, it's a new web browser. Totally sweet.

Fashionable food

Coffee & cinnamon cupcakes
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Yeah, I bet you all wish you were coming to our Project Runway Pizza Party we have every Wednesday night! Especially tonight when dessert is coffee cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream. (Earth Fare checkout girl = not invited*.) These are coffee cupcakes intentionally plain ol' coffee and not mocha because I believe coffee to be a flavor strong enough to stand on it's own.

Tonight there will be two types of pizza dough: the good ol' basic pizza dough from Joy of Cooking and a yeast-free, wholewheat naan-ish one from some website. Last week I tried a wholewheat yeast-free dough that relied on baking powder and soda for any rising.  Unfortunately, the pies turned into big, dense crackers. One of the pizzas we didn't put a sauce on, which is not unusual, however with this particular dough it meant that none of the toppings adhered. It was a huge disappointment for everyone. I'm optimistic about tonight because in addition to two types of dough I'm also armed with fresh roasted red peppers and pesto.


*Apparently, after I glared and left her she had to repack the whole bag because she hadn't accounted for the two large glass bottles we had. HA.

Dear Earth Fare checkout girl,

Do not ever, ever tell me how to bag my groceries and should you dare to withold the broccoli from me again I will not be so polite as to glare and walk away a second time.  

MIG test

nailed 2
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

I didn't burn the house down, or get electrocuted! Tomorrow I start the lathe construction.

I'm also going in to Blue Ridge Biofuels for a follow up meeting. I had a pseudo interview with them last week, and I'm going to talk to the money guy about how much they can pay me... probably partially in fuel.

$0.20/lb

$0.20/lb
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Now that I have a swanky 'new' MIG welder (thanks Steve!), I can get down to building myself that bowl lathe. I wandered into the local scrapyard today. It was like I'd finally entered the deep south. I must have seen a half-dozen different styles of mullet, and got into 2 traffic jams within 100 yards, one involving a crane. The beautiful, crusty mountains of steel more than made up for the clientele though. Near the back corner where I found my haul was a pile of steel shavings 20 feet high, very strange. The grand total for 280lbs of steel, $59.71. Considering a professional bowl lathe runs for $2,000, I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

The desk

The desk
Originally uploaded by average lavender

After years of biding my time I've finally managed to get my favorite desk. This desk lived in various places around my parents house: near the kitchen, in a bedroom, in a hallway. I always remember it stuffed with papers and old Christmas cards. With no pleading and no promising not to ruin it my mom agreed to send it back with George. Now it's living in the living room; a great spot to use and store our computers, my ever-growing stationary collection, the camera, and all the various cords that come with things these days.

My lucky day

Today I look forward to the relief that's coming at the end of the day: George will be home. I look forward to this for purely selfish reasons and feel no remorse or guilt about it. Starting life here in Asheville while progressing well and confidently proves a difficult task when half of the team simply isn't here. Sure, I can hang all the pictures and put them wherever I please, but we all know that when he gets home George will move them all slightly so they're level and level with the top of the door casing or perfectly parallel to something else. Trying to live in house by yourself is very unlike setting up shop in an apartment - apartments are temporary, strangely proportioned, hodge-podge lodgings that feel informal, gritty, and cramped (you know, in my experience.) Houses have whole rooms devoted to one purpose: a bedroom, a dining room, a kitchen, a living room and they're all HUGE compared to the space that served all these various purposes. I am not person enough yet to fill this space and the cats have chosen the yard as their turf.

Additionally there will be a return to food. I don't remember the last time I experienced such anxiety, frustsration, and confusion about eating. I want to cook all sorts of things but there's no need to. While my new job is exciting because I don't have to get up at four a.m., my internal clock is all messed up because now I stay at work until two a.m. This means I wake up at nine and freak out because I've wasted the whole day (as far as I'm concerned), have a reassuring cup of coffee and launch straight into doing things, sans breakfast, and by the time I have to start wrangling the cats inside I've just enough time to get my ridiculously large shirt and stupid hat together for work and whisk out the door to scoot my way to breadland, sans lunch, where I get a big cup of ice water fill my mug with their mediocre iced coffee and prey on any scraps the pastry department has left behind like a fox in a hen house - sly and ravenously. Sometimes there are pastries from the case up front left over we can have, sometimes I shell out money for a sandwich (yeah, I have to buy a sandwich from the place I work made on the bread that I baked - LAME) or we order out for some noodles. Sometimes I try and bring my own sandwich or some leftovers but I haven't perfected their transportation to and storage at work, it's a little annoying.

George's return will clearly solve all my issues. This includes having someone else around to let the cats out in the morning.

Ahhh

Gosh

I don't know why you all haven't rushed over to read Hope Larson and Byran Lee O'Malley's amazing new short: Bear Creek Apartments!

Garden update

Holey broccoli
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The garden looks pretty sickly these days. It could have something to do with the drought, it could have something to do with the fact that the cats think it's the most incredible litter box, it could also be attributed to something nibbling away at ALL the plants. Not surprisingly, the squash is thriving. (We also have a mystery squash growing out front, under a window box. No one knows how it got there.)

Living and the room

Living room 1
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The living room is nearing completion. Looking through this doorway it seems pretty great - but looking in the other direction there are bare spaces on either side of the doorway which look...lonely. Two matching desks? Long banners? A tall bookshelf and a side table with a plant and some hip art? Blank? Furnishing a home with a budget of $0 is a sick game of waiting.

Letter books

Letter books 3
Originally uploaded by average lavender

You know those little projects you have that you think you're going to buckle down one day and just do but then never do them because there's something more pressing to accomplish? I finally finished one. Some people have boxes of nostalgic whatever squirreled away under beds, in attics, crowding mantles, but I have stacks of letters. There's nothing like getting real mail. Real in the sense that it isn't electronic and it's something you actually want to read from someone you actually care about (I mean, unless you don't care about them and they're a terrible person, like say, a landlord.) So after you receive the mail, you read it, you savor it - what do you do with it?

It's really satisfying to have all these (90% in chronological order, I might add) somewhere nice, somewhere clean, somewhere safe. The first letter is from Cynthia, mailed to me when I was living in an apartment complex behind a Wal-Mart in Rochester.

Woe is us...

George is headed north, last I knew he was somewhere in Virginia. He's hoping to stop and get a little sleep somewhere along the way and then hit up some dude in New Jersey for some veggie oil before 10am. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Girl is a little clingy, a little unsure of how she feels about George being gone, he is her favorite. Boy is pacing and yeowing. I have been watching "Murder, She Wrote" and eating dinner - refried pasta with garlic. None of us know what we're going to do without George for two whole weeks.

Enough about dinner, let's talk about breakfast. This morning we went to the Sunny Point for breakfast, we even walked there! While George had eggs over easy with sausage and cheddar grits, I had an orange cornmeal hot cake with blackberry butter (okay, it was Earth Balance) and a side of mapley, peppery bacon. All the food was, naturally, incredible. There was, however, one thing that I did not love about my meal, and it wasn't the service, it wasn't the noise, it wasn't some screaming child, it was that our table. While wonderfully outside, it was one of those tables in "the path." You know what I mean, it's near the server station so someone is constantly whisking by you with busy energy. I'm a fairly picky person, but I'm not going to go through the trouble of having a fit and asking to be moved because that's just out of line and ridiculous. I will however have a grumpy moment while I fidget around trying to find the spot that makes all the bustle less annoying. Also, 90% of the time stuff like this doesn't actually bother me at all, it's just that we've been seated in "the path" three times since we've been here - which mystifies me because we've only been out to eat like four times!

I think maybe I'm more sensitive (i.e. crazy) because I work in a food environment, so the last thing I want to be around when I'm not working is other people working like I work. Sitting next to the bus tub and water pitcher make me feel as though I should bus my table the table of the people next to me in addition to filling my own water glass. Going out to eat is a gluttonous treat, it's exciting and special, I look forward to it.

For fall/winter I hope to perfect the art of cheesey grits.

One room down, seven to go.

Kitchen
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The one room that's 99% put together is our kitchen, mostly because we didn't have to really hunt around for furnishings. Hope & Mal gave us their big island that didn't work in their kitchen and everything else simply fell into place.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm due at work at three o'clock so I can bake bread until midnight or one a.m.

Scoot

Scoot
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Vrrroooom!

northward

I'm coming north!

Jenne isn't =( She went and got a real job at the City Bakery.

I'll be collecting furniture donations for our empty house.

I just sent this proposal over the the Green River Preserve. They have 3 diesel buses they're thinking of converting.

projectiles

headstock for future bowl lathe
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

project 1: build a lathe burly enough for turning giant bowls
-found headstock, $42 on ebay, from an old Atlas metal lathe
-find suitable steel I-beam, etc...
-find access to, or buy, MIG welder
-make bowls
-sell bowls

project 2: new antenna for cellphone
-done, it actually works better than the replacement I bought

project 3: set up Etsy.com account
-see if there's a market for podbarks
-sell other stuff

project 4: update portfolio
-wait for yannick to email photos...

project 5: make furniture
-helped mill lumber (from Hope's mom)
-pick up whatever she doesn't use
-design furniture
-buy more tools...

project 6: collecting waste veggie oil
-found 2 barrels for filtering
-find restaurants

'sup p'up

pu'p bed
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

I finished the Isuzu P'up conversion on Friday. Surprisingly, there was virtually no troubleshooting. I took it on a test drive, and aside from the smell of stanky old car interior, everything went great.

For those of you who care, if any, the system works like so:
-dirty oil into the small tank (heated w/ coolant)
-flip switch, pump oil through filter into big tank (also heated)
-once up to temp, flip switch to switch from regular diesel to veggie
-before final shutdown, switch back to regular diesel to clear veggie from engine

On Tuesday I'm going to drive out to the camp Ryan (the owner) works at. They have a couple of diesel buses they want me to look at. Could be fun!

Saturday: funday

Baby beet
Originally uploaded by average lavender

To our surprise our beets have sprouted! Eeee! We also have two tiny little kale sprouts - which is surprising because the kale end of the garden is the end of the garden that Girl has deemed her giant, fancy, new litter box. Peeking their little limbs out this morning are some oh-so delicate carrot sprouts! The peppers are flowering like crazy.

Stuff's cool around here, the kittens are finding their daily rhythm - 6am: meowing (Boy: Meh-eh-eh Girl: mao?) 6:05: napping 6:30: circling, more serious meowing 6:35: outside! 12 noon: nap time inside 3pm: outside! 8:30pm: grudgingly come inside. I'm losing my rhythm: three days in a row working at 8am, one day working from 3pm until 1am (!?), a day off, then starting at 7am. And George never had much rhythm to begin with. (Zing!)


I want to take a little moment to talk about "the blog". My goal for the blog is to post more frequently and about fewer topics; since we've been fairly slack about posting I feel the need to give you this big general updates, which is a little boring. So while I'm going to try and bring you better, more interesting content, I would like you to let me know you're reading (Curtis? Shannon? Uhm...Johann? Emily?) Comment, people! I live for it!

Progress

Garden
Originally uploaded by average lavender

It's a little late to be starting a full garden, but somehow I maintained some misplaced confidence that we'd be able to find a few cherry tomato starts around here. We managed to round up four pepper plants (two banana, one green, one yellow), brussel sprouts, broccoli, squash and seeds for kale, carrots, beets, basil, and chives. We also found some thyme and parsley. I mean, it's not my dream garden (no little tomatoes, and no, sniff, cucumbers), but at least we'll have some edible things.

It sounds like George will be headed north in the beginning of August, to see Jesse who's visiting home from China, to see his family, to go to some dude's wedding in Maine, and (hopefully) wrangle up some furniture and plants that'll fit in the car. Meanwhile... I'll be staying in Asheville to play with my consolation prize: the new scooter we haven't got yet! Which will take me to be trained at: my new job I haven't started yet! I've managed to land a part time gig with City Bakery & Cafe making bread; I start Tuesday.

The cats are way happier here than they were in California. They have a yard to play in, so Boy isn't getting chased by dogs and stuck in trees, and Girl is comfortable and not always slinking around afraid. They spend their afternoons sleeping and the late evenings being pissy because they're not outside.

George is washing the car.

Scoot, boogie

If there's one thing we've learned about Asheville it's that it's *the* place for scooters. They're everywhere, being ridden by everyone! It's partly because the city it's eco-conscious and people are attracted to the 100 mpg they get and it's partly because if a scooter's engine is 50cc or smaller the rider doesn't need a motorcycle license - therefore scooting is popular with the DUI crowd. While West Asheville is near downtown it's still kind of a haul, biking is possible but in the summer heat and humidity it's about the last way I want to get around. George and I have beeing eyeing the Honda Metropolitan. We figure it's the perfect second motorized form of transportation for us (me), ridiculously great gas mileage and I don't really need to go that far or get there fast anyway. Also, they seem pretty reasonably priced: if we opt for the '07 lying around the local dealer it's about $1600, and a new '08 is about $2000. There are a few differences we've noticed: the '08 has a more comfortable seat, better color, and chrome mirrors, is it worth it though?

We're heeeere.

We finally made it to Asheville, after a disappointing attempt at seeing Graceland and going through towns like Texarkana and Bucksnort we rolled through the Smokies and coolly glided into our driveway. After some much needed quality food at the Westville Pub with Hope and Mal, Hope drove me out to the gigantic, crazy, ridiculous, pretty terrifying Wal-Mart where I bought an inflatable bed, sheets, and cotton swabs.

The house is really incredible, it's the nicest place I've ever rented or could dream of renting. The backyard is the perfect size for a small garden and clothesline with extra space for our hammock and some lawn. Next to the house was an awful cement pad which at one point had apparently been home to a hot tub, and boy was it hideous. I called the landlord to let her know we got here and double check about the garden and see just what things we could get rid of: her first suggestion without being prompted - that terrible cement thing. Needless to say, it's already gone.

Our pod of belongings has yet to show it's rectangluar face, we hear rumors it should arrive today.

She'll fly 'erself apart captain!

After a couple tanks of veggie oil we noticed that the Mercedes was losing power, especially driving uphill. Initially we thought the oil we got was too thick for the engine, so we thinned it down with some diesel and that seemed to solve the problem. The third batch of oil we got from Lubbock, TX was excellent, so when we hit the highway and still had problems we decided to do some problem solving. The engine was acting like it wasn't getting enough fuel, and it seemed to run fine on a thinner diesel/oil mix, so we suspected that either the fuel pump wasn't maintaining pressure in the line or a fuel filter was clogged. We unplugged the auxiliary pump to isolate the main fuel pump and the car still ran. We decided the problem was probably that the primary fuel filter was clogged, so we decided to rig a bypass.



The veggie oil conversion kit George installed has 4 inline fuel filters, including a large primary filter with a water separator. We unplugged the fuel lines from the primary filter and hooked them up to the factory filter. The cartridge on the stock filter is smaller, but we figured that the first batch of oil we got might have been dirty, so we were hoping that the new filter would be clean. The work went smoothly with a little help from the local sheriff, after about 40 minutes we were ready to roll.



Luckily our guess was right! The engine started up, purring smoothly on the clean veggie oil and we drove on into the hot Texas night. Generally the engine runs more smoothly on the veggie oil because it burns cleaner than diesel, so with a new filter we cruised on into Dallas.



Today we took off the oil kit filter to rinse it out with gasoline. We figured we might be able to clean out the filter, just in case. We found a nice surprise waiting for us.



Turns out the hot oil was cleaning out 25 years worth of gunk built up in the combustion chambers. Our second sweet surprise was garlic mashed potatoes and steak. Now the car is fueled up and so are we. Tomorrow: on to Memphis.

You can't tame the J-Dogg.

Happy B-day J-Dogg!

brownies and coffee and A/C heaven.

time to go rehabilitate some bridges.

See, it really works!

See, it really works!
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Highlights:

- Running on vegetable oil 2/3 of the time so far.
- Being accused of siphoning fuel elsewhere and refused biodiesel purchase in Bakersfield.
- Cats not totally freaking out the whole time.
- Pretty uneventful trip.

Hopefully my traveling companions will be kind enough to weigh in on some of this stuff.

Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin

We've decided to leave California on a day when it's just about 100 degrees, good choice? Of course. The heat makes me feel mostly brain dead, so I'll just say that we're leaving in roughly two hours, we have 10 gallons of water and our first stop is in San Mateo to pick up some veggie oil.

Adios!

I'M IN THE SIIIIINK!

I'M IN THE SIIIIINK!
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Boy is adapting well to being on "vacation". After moving out we heard from our ex-landlord that we hadn't cleaned well enough to which I had a long rant of seriously pissed off responses, like, "It's not my fault that you didn't allow a day in between us moving out and the new tenant moving in to really clean and paint the place - which is your responsibility as a landlord." In the end and after a conversation that repeated itself at least five times, she said she'd have someone else go back and clean it - and take $30 out of our deposit. It's not that much, I know, but it's really the principle. When we tried to tell her we were moving out she didn't get the message because she was on vacation in Mexico.

We've decided to leave Tuesday afternoon, which means we'll be passing through southern California/Arizona/New Mexico hopefully at night. Our car is reliable, comfortable, beautiful, but lacks that new-fangled air conditioning. I think each of us has our own plan regarding how far we'll actually drive the first day, and I'm really hoping to make it to Albuquerque, NM - an easy 16 hour drive. After a night of rest in hopefully some great, cheap, pet-friendly place we'll truck along another 11 hours to Garland, TX where we get to stop and see my aunt, uncle, and cousins! The next leg will be a cool 15 hours to Asheville and our adorable little house. I mean, ideally.

Happy birthday, George!

He's 26! We had blueberry pie & espresso for breakfast!

Today we're *offically* moving out of our apartment in San Anselmo!

Firing California

I keep trying to write witty things about the atmosphere around here today but I'm rapidly running out of ideas and patience. My contacts are drying out, I'm tired, I'm hungry-but-not-hungry. We all feel like crap and it's legitimately not from being stressed about packing.

Smoke from fires sits over Marin (from three days ago) (Also, the fabric store mentioned is just around the corner from the bakery.)

Air quality gets worse in Marin (from yesterday)

Update

I didn't go to Asheville today as planned. We decided that it would be okay not to because a) I was too stressed about finishing up everything here and b) it wasn't absolutely necessary because we've already found a place to live which was the trip's original purpose. I called our new landlord and she was completely understanding (as opposed to those landlords who're mostly understanding,) seriously, this woman is great. One of the best parts about not leaving today is the resulting three-day weekend for yours truly. And we both get to pick James up at the airport! Hooray!

Friday was the best beach day ever. Liz, Yannick and I headed out around noon, grabbed some bad iced coffees on the way, stopped by Yannick's house for cheese and snacks, then went straight on to Shell Beach where it was cooler than town (which was about, oh, 100 degrees) and perfect for beach sitting and even...swimming! We swam out to the raft, we sat around, we ate the food, Liz and I read US Weekly, Yannick slept with a towel over his head, and we took three great pictures. Just three. Then we stopped by the Bovine Bakery (where my boss used to work) and got some cookies (Liz is crazy about the Lemony Snickett), then we stopped at the Olema Farm House for oysters and a beer then came back to town where it was still about 90 degrees at 6pm.

George left Sunday morning and drove down to L.A. where he'll be working for the week. Before he left he found a guy in ...Salinas? with some veggie oil for sale ($1.50/gal!) so he stopped and filled 'er up! He said everything ran great. He'll be getting back just in time to take me to the airport on Sunday then he'll have three or four hours to hang around until James arrives! (These next ... 4 weeks are full of comings and goings, it feels like forever, but I'm sure will zip right by.)

While George is gone I'm taking the opportunity to finish up some projects I moved to California unfinished and pack as much stuff as I possibly can. So far I've packed up almost all the books, the scanner, and am starting on the studio. Things I've found worth noting: that package of rubber bands I bought in college at least six years ago, a tiny jar full of tiny clothespins, all of my missing straight pins, and at least three packages of origami paper.

SOLD!

I posted the Rabbit last night around 9 o'clock and had 5 emails by morning. Brett was so excited about it that he drove out this afternoon, test drove it to the bank, and wrote me a cashier's check for four THOUSAND dollars. That should make the move go a little smoother. I don't know that I actually made any money, considering all the parts I bought, but I may have broken even.

yeehaw!

So cool

Our friend Liz has "tagged" us for one of these silly questionairey thingies! It's like we're "real" bloggers now!

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Predictably, I was fourteen, less than a month away from turning fifteen, and reading my driver's manual over and over and over, dreaming of the day I'd drive a car and where I'd drive it to.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Pack some stuff, work on a couple secret surprises, try to sew the sleeves on that damn sweater again, make granola, get to bed early.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Cheese - duh, chocolate chips, cucumbers, wavy/rippy/krinkle kut potato chips, pretzels

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay some bills, build a sweet house with a bitchin' kitchen, buy some of that fancy european style butter in the ceramic crock

5) Places I have lived:
Greensboro Bend, Montpelier, Plainfield, and Hardwick (Vermont), Chili (pronounced: chai-lie) and Henrietta (New York), San Anselmo (California) and soooooon: Asheville (North Carolina)

6) Jobs I have had:
General office monkey at a circus, short stint as a cashier at a general store, even shorter stint washing pots and pans in a dining hall, sewer/costume repairer at UVM's costume shop, under-appreciated stint as a screenprinter, bread baker, pastry baker.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:
I'm not tagging anybody because I'm seriously unhip.

Obviously, I can't answer for George, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them.

Four days

That's how long the collar lasted on Boy. Seriously. Four days. What is this cat doing?! This makes the third one! He's putting himself on the fast track to microchipping. I don't have anything against microchipping pets, it's a fairly good idea, it's just that if someone picks this little fella up with no collar what's to say they're going to take him somewhere that can read the chip?

It's official!

Asheville, here we come!



I hope that everybody has a friend as truly magnificent as Hope. See that side mirror in the corner of the picture? That's because it's some drive-by photography of a possible house to rent, this one also came with a picture of the "For Rent" sign and all the phone numbers. Then she even went to the house to check it out and meet the landlords in lieu of us! In more "Hope is incredible!" news, her new book Chiggers is up for sale at Amazon! And it's available in hardcover! Hardcover! I'm pleased to say that all her trouble was well worth it to us: starting July 1 we'll be this little beaut's lucky renters!

From what I hear the interior is pretty spotless and dreamy: yellow living room, gray (that's right) dining room with a gas fireplace, a green bedroom and a beigey bedroom, a laundry room with a ton of storage space and a half bathroom, a normal bathroom with (my dream come true,) a bathtub, clean white kitchen, backyard!, clothesline!, carport!? The house is near an elementary school and pretty close to the neighborhood pool and Hope's!

We're working out little details like when to ship all our stuff, when we're actually going to head out... The idea of leaving is already very very exciting and very very terrifying. And sad. I said it! It'll be sad to go, we really like our neighbors here and I love my job and my boss and my commute, moving away from Liz is going to be by far the most difficult part.

I.D'd!

The cat came back...
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Hooray! He and Girl have shiny new collars, his is red and hers is orange. We're debating whether or not to get Boy a purple one instead, for fashion's sake - I like the red because it's bright, where purple may blend in.

We let him out this morning because he wouldn't shut up, here's hoping he's learned his lesson.

Meow!

Boy's back!

I got home from work, and there he was sitting on the front step. Girl's quite relieved, she keeps sniffing him to make sure he's real. Jenne's in Berkeley, but is also quite relieved. Boy's just hungry. I went around on my skateboard and took down all the posters, and told the local cat lady the good news. She's actually quite nice, not one of those crazy cat ladies.

detectives and oil

I didn't know they really existed, but Hope found us a pet detective. We spoke with her on the phone, and she actually sounds pretty legit. She's coming by tomorrow with her cat tracking dog. If nothing else the dog will be able to tell us where Boy hasn't been. We'll see.


In other news, I finally finished the veggie oil conversion! And the car still runs! (I think the photos get bigger if you click on them)


auxiliary pump and pre-pre-filter at fuel tank. note the shinny new axle behind.


engine compartment. the kit is basically everything attached to the aluminum bracket. the yellow thing on the right is a clear pre-filter. it's attached to the main filter. the metal canister to the left of the bracket is a final filter.


the back side of the bracket. the little black box with 2 wires is a thermostat, epoxied to the heater (a few cast iron pipe fittings, an inlet and outlet, and a glowplug).


left, main filter. right, pre-filter. in between is the on/off switch for the heater, and a couple of fuses to keep the car from blowing up.


this is a bi-valve, which lets the unburnt fuel either return to the tank (as it normally would), or recirculate through the heat chamber (if you're running vegetable oil.)

She's about ready for the cross country trek; a couple more bushings, and some new tires, and one annoying squeal... vacuum leak, i think.

The Lost Boy and Rambling On

I went to my second acupuncture appointment on Thursday for my carpal tunnel and she decided to use my left arm (the first time she used my left foot.) She stuck a series of five needles in the underside of my forearm and said that I could move my hand, but that it would feel pretty weird. Not only did it feel really weird, but it felt like a deep aching soreness. I closed my eyes and tried to think of other things, make lists of stuff to do, come up with an idea for dinner...and slowly I felt lightheaded and dizzy. I opened my eyes and stared at the wall in front of me, breathing in and out slowly and with extra care. After about a half hour she came back and took out the needles, we both agreed that I'd had my fill and that we'd work with the foot from now on.

Boy still isn't home and it's truly breaking my heart. I feel like mostly all I can do is just keep taking deep breaths; like the needles in arm: "It's okay it's okay it's okay..." As crazy and ridiculous as it sounds, I believe (I like to believe) I have an extra preceptive intuition. Feeling it when someone close is in an accident or is seriously ill, like the day Ollie became suddenly and inexplicably ill and the few days later when Jenna showed up in the middle of the night to tell me he'd died - I just knew it. The last few times Boy's been up a tree there's been this feeling of urgency - I have to go home from work because I know I can find him, I know he's looking for me. This time I can't feel anything, he's my best little bud - sleeps on my legs every night, wakes up with me every morning, enjoys being carried to the food dish when he's too sleepy to that early, comes running for a little cream when we pour the coffee - and I can't find any sure feeling to latch onto. It's like he's just...disappeared.

I can't tell whether to be confident that he'll just come back because he's a cat and can fend for himself, he is and animal, or accept that he's gone and that's that, or frantically scavenge the bushes for him in his possibly injured state. Girl is absolutely no help and has peed on the couch twice. Our current working theory is that he got shut in a garage or someone's house and they went away for the weekend (our theory changes about every hour.) Sometimes we think that one of the little brats that walks by and likes to yell "KITTY!!" and chase after him managed to drag him off or their parent, noticing he had no collar, decided that he was fair game for the taking. (And I mean it when I say brats.)

It does feel like this needs to be resolved quickly and definitely because we've decided to move to North Carolina for real. I'll be flying out June 22 to hopefully find us an apartment and possibly scout around for a job (or two). If everything goes as "planned" we'll be driving out sometime in the beginning of July. We're 80% settled on packing up all our stuff in a pod-thing from Door to Door and having it shipped out to us, it's a little pricey, but frankly not that much pricier than a U-Haul would be much less of a hassle (we think.) We're also trying to convince James to fly out to California and hang out, help us pack, and drive with us. It sounds like he's not so keen on the driving, but I'm trying to persuade him, we're hoping to make it in just a few days maybe stopping in Albuquerque and...oh..say... Garland?

We're excited and sad. I don't really want to leave without Boy or at least knowing ... where he is? what happened?

Any support/advice welcome.

P.S.- The acupuncture is helping the carpal tunnel, my wrist doesn't feel as swollen, most of the shooting pains have subsided and there hasn't been any numbness and only manageable aching. I'm optimistic.

Gone Wandering

Boy has decided to take a vacation - we don't know where he went or when he's coming back or even if he's coming back. We scoped out all the trees he's been stuck in and have found nothing but leaves.

(Based on the neighbor cat's recent yawling-which he never does-I feel like something is ... amiss.)

In the meantime we're trying to be patient and respectful of his need for space and listening intently for meowing (that isn't Rusty.)

Two tidbits

1) There are two cop cars outside the house (presumably 'visiting' the apartment complex on the other side of our neighbors' house.)

2) I'll have some cupcakes to share with you in a few hours.

Summer is upon us

The National Weather Service tells me that it's going to be 101 degrees in San Anselmo on Thursday. !!!! Holy crap! This is news that makes me appreciate two things: a) our apartment stays relatively cool due to the lack of sun and b) that I won't be in San Anselmo on Thursday! Ha! Liz and I are driving up to Portland to see Liz and Mike! Originally George and Yannick were going to come along but George can't tear himself away from the railing-building and I think Yannick flat out forgot and probably doesn't want to come if George isn't going (there are few people who would want to spend ten hours in a car with Liz and I.)

Tomorrow (only 90 degree day) is the day our veggie conversion kit is slated to arrive! George is pretty excited.

The carpal tunnel is subsiding, the nightly bracing seems to be helping, even if it chaffing the inside of my thumb raw. My panic is subsiding as well.

Diagnosis: CTS or An Account of the Week

A session of dishwashing at home last Monday left me with a funky thumb problem - I couldn't put any pressure on it without awful shooting pains, no jar opening, no mug lifting, no supporting myself as I climbed down from the loft.

Then on Tuesday I was getting weird feelings in the back of my hand - not pain, but I could just feel everything.

Wednesday morning started with a bang in the first ten minutes: getting out of bed...feeling nauseous, ears ringing, vision darkening, chills, clammy, freaking out...to being completely normal. This has, in fact, happened to me twice already in my life: eight years ago and four or five months ago. Fearing brain problems, I made an appointment at the community clinic.

I learned that the weird freaking out is almost fainting, pre-vasovagal syncope. A nerve in the body sends out a signal that slows the heart rate, thereby draining the blood from the head and down you go! (Maybe.) Apparently it can be triggered by..oh..anything and the only danger to a person is if they actually pass out and hurt themselves in the fall. I also learned that I'm not anemic and I'm not diabetic. As for all my wrist/thumb issues, it's straight-up, good old y2k fashioned carpal tunnel syndrome. The doc seemed fairly nonchalant about this, granted it's not really a serious, life-threatening, exotic injury and it's mostly inconvenient, but so far it's seriously putting cramp in everything. I've been working with a brace, which is bulky, awkward, and extremely frustrating, icing it every night, wearing the brace to sleep, I stopped knitting my sweater, I can't do the dishes, open containers, use a can opener, teeth brushing has good and bad moments, as does getting dressed. Before this my days were spent working, then coming home to knit or maybe ride my bike, and now it's mostly searching the internet and checking my email left handed.

We made it to the farmers market yesterday and came home with artichokes, broccoli, cider (wicked pricey but delicious cider), yogurt, a kiwi, and bought some roasted chestnuts but they didn't make it home. We always bring the camera so we can show you how big this market is (HUGE) but when we get overwhelmed by the number of pushy people and children we're trying not to trip over and forget.

Pictures of things soon!

stimulate this, economy.

$5.15 per gallon of biodiesel!? Fortunately, our [least] favorite president has come to our aid! (in the form of $600). In an effort to do our part in saving the economy, we've decided to stop paying for fuel all together. I ordered a veggie oil conversion kit! (plus a couple of upgrades, all tax free over the internet, naturally). We still have to find a source for used oil. A minor hurdle. We're on pretty good terms with Chef Tony. And there are well over a dozen other places nearby... come to think of it, our landlady owns a taqueria.

In other economical/automotive news, the cv joints were completely shot and the mechanic quoted me $1300 to replace them. ack. I found full axle assemblies for $189 each, and some very thorough instructions. I think it was one of the smoother car fixings I've performed. All that practice on the Rabbit has paid off.

I'm still working on that fancy railing. I think I've had about enough of doing silly work for silly rich people. The rail's pretty cool, but that's all it is. I'd like to be using my time for something at least a little more meaningful...

Ahoy, Festive Friday

Kitchen line up
Originally uploaded by average lavender

It's true, once I finish work I usually want to bake something when I get home - when I bake at home I get to bake what I want and how I want. Today is Sourdough Friday, the day at work when I mix the sourdough, and I figured that I should take this opportunity, sprinkled with time and ambition to make some at home with the starter that James gave me when we were home. This poor starter's had a rough time since leaving James' well-maintained stock; first the flight across the country under a plane, malnourished most of the time...on at least three occasions I was convinced I'd killed it and wasn't going to have the heart to tell James of my neglectful ways. Luckily I was mistaken and now it's doing great and is fulfilling its destiny!

Simultaneously, I'm having my afternoon coffee. Instead of being lazy and using our handy little electric 4-cupper I'm meticulously and patiently using our beautiful ceramic dripper. George and I have yet to really master the art of making an amazing cup of coffee with this, it's really hit or miss. Sometimes it's the best you've ever had, here or in Europe, and other times it's like you're drinking the twice reheated dregs from a day old pot of Folgers made by Luke (i.e. like mud.) Today the coffee is passable.