life

very strange weather we've been having here.  one day there's sun and spring, next day snow and close to freezing at night.  at least the snow is minimal and melts away quickly... unlike what they have had in Duvall, where Kate measured it at 6 inches and took pics of the kids and dog frolicking in it!  and in between the sun and the snow, there has been rain showers and hail.  oh, well, it hasn't interfered with my life in the slightest.

this afternoon we went to the matinee of "Our Town" at the community theater in Hillsboro.  the only reason i went was because my dad (age 93) had a small role in it and he would have been hurt if i hadn't been there to see him on stage again.  and for the hundredth time (it seems like) he asked if i remembered when he and my mom were in that play together.  i always say "yes" even tho i was probably 8 years old and it was one of many i saw them act in, and i'm not really sure i remember that event, or if the memory is based on pictures i've seen of them and the stories i've heard.  "Our Town" is my least favorite play in the whole wide world, and i wouldn't have gone if it were not for Pop.  he did quite well, tho i hadn't thought i'd see him on stage again.  so... hurray and bravo for him.   it was especially sweet for him because my brother was also in the play, so the 2 of them were on stage together again!   i'm betting he is exhausted after 3 performances every weekend for 4 weeks, and i don't know how many weeks of rehersals!! 

thoughts

And i had an interesting thought... it came while i was thinking about cleaning the house (operative words: "thinking about").  There is a definite advantage to downsizing from approx. 3500-4000 sq. ft. house (impossible to measure a dome house precisely and accurately) to somewhere around 1600-1800 sq.ft. house.  and that is that there will be a far smaller space to feel guilty about not cleaning!  that makes me happy.

a Cretan dinner

tonight Jim prepared a delightful dinner straight from a cookbook "Foods of Crete - Cooking Recipes" written by a woman we met during our last visit to Vamos, Crete.  Her name is Koula Varydakis, and i'm looking forward to seeing her again when we are there in April.   The dishes he prepared were all delicious... mushrooms dusted with flour and fried, potatoes with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and baked, a shrimp dish with onions, green pepper and garlic, lamb with garlic and onions, Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onion dressed with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar) (which i can never get enough of), green salad from the greenhouse (rocket and romaine mostly) dressed with olive oil and lemon juice and white balsamic vinegar, and to top it off, raki (Greek fire water) (which was a definite hit with the guests... well, some of them).  I ate so much (and so well) that i damn near hurt myself!  and i have no regrets.  A dinner with the liberal use of olive oil and garlic rates high with me!!

And the guests... (from left, Amy, married to Jules, his dad, Bob, Jim-the-chef, Sarah, and Betsy.

amazing!

I'm not a crocheter by any stretch, but i think this looks really amazing!!  i'm impressed!

Crete

I just checked the weather in Crete... 62F to 64F and mostly sunny for the next 5 days, with 50sF at night!  sigh....  and 4 weeks from today, that's where i'll be.  This year we'll be in a different house and it has a garden and porch and trees, and this thought makes me very happy!  bravo!!

spring in the greenhouse

more Justify Your Stash

The Justify Your Stash mobius wrap (Lynne's pattern) is done except for dealing with the yarn ends.  Rachael was here today so i talked her into modeling it for me.  I really love the edging of pointy things and it was fun to knit them!!

Audacity Yarn

This is handdyed BFL sock yarn from Black Bunny Fibers.  I joined "Knitters for Obama" group on Ravelry where Carol Sulcoski is dyeing and selling this yarn and donating $15 of each sale to the campaign of Barack Obama!  What a great way to support a cause I believe in -AND- get some yummy yarn in the process.  it's a win-win for me and i think it's a really cool thing that Carol is doing!!  Bravo!!