when I'm not knitting...
I've still been keeping pretty busy. First though, I'm reading all your posts about books. We seem to be a relatively old fashioned lot who enjoy actual books. That is, except for those of us who would love for knitting books (including mine) to be available formatted for the latest Kindle
from Amazon or for other e-readers. I've heard that it is hard to make knitting books available in this format because of the graphics, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if you're interested..the contrast and graphics software are improving all the time. Go to the Amazon page for the books you'd like (mine, for instance?) and say you'd like the publisher to make it available for Kindle... I figure it couldn't hurt to ask! 
This past weekend I spent a lot of time outdoors. On Saturday, the weather here went from sunny to rainy to hailing all in a matter of seconds. I happened to be outdoors during the hail, so I can vouch for it. The intellectual highlight of the day for me was going to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. First, I discovered something new. I learned that our most recent house guest, someone I've known for 7 years, knows quite a bit about art and really enjoys it. Our favorite exhibit, hands down, was this one with Andrew Qappik's art. The other exhibit that really felt powerful was the Canadian apology to First Nations' Residential school survivors,We Are Sorry. (Canadians were not alone in harming North American native populations, but they do a very good job of apologizing compared to the U.S., in my opinion--and remember, I'm from the U.S.!) This photo of me is at the very top of the museum, in the rooftop sculpture garden. I'm standing next to an artist's gorgeous rende
ring of an Inukshuk. (We weren't supposed to shoot photos
in the museum, but since we were technically on top of the museum, our house guest snuck one in.)
Saturday night, we walked through our neighborhood to go out for dinner at a Felafel joint. The Professor and our house guest spotted a rare thing on our walk--leave it to biologists to notice the special in the every day neighborhood nature! It was an apricot tree, and it was loaded with fruit. This is uncommon because apricot trees rarely fruit here as the weather is too harsh. It's also a wonderful coincidence, because I love apricots. I knocked on the door of the house and met our neighbor, who happened to be 9 months pregnant and ready to deliver. It was her due date, so she wasn't picking or putting up apricots herself! She invited us to harvest what we could so it wouldn't be wasted. We provided her with quiet and amusing entertainment. (S
he begged us to give her a shock so she'd have the baby already!)
We came home with more than enough apricots for a (very tart) pie. I also am freezing the apricots as pulp as they come ripe. When I have enough pulp, I'll defrost it and make jam.
On Sunday, the Professor gave a talk at the Living Prairie Museum as part of their Monarch Butterfly Festival. It was a bright sunny day so we didn't mind sitting in a shady tent for a while to hear the talk. Also, it was pretty fun to see all these little kids listening intently to the Professor's talk while dressed up in life size butterfly wings, antennae, and face paint.
Sunday afternoon, the biologists went off to yet another park to see more flora and fauna. I stayed home for a couple hours, worked on warping my loom and made a big dinner. It's amazing what some time outdoors does to stimulate the appetite ---People cannot live by apricots alone!
That's what is going on here. House guest #7 left Monday morning right as we went off to the university for a busy day of teaching and research. House guest #8 arrives Thursday. Never a dull moment...or at least, not until it gets colder around here...February might be quiet in comparison!
from Amazon or for other e-readers. I've heard that it is hard to make knitting books available in this format because of the graphics, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if you're interested..the contrast and graphics software are improving all the time. Go to the Amazon page for the books you'd like (mine, for instance?) and say you'd like the publisher to make it available for Kindle... I figure it couldn't hurt to ask! 
This past weekend I spent a lot of time outdoors. On Saturday, the weather here went from sunny to rainy to hailing all in a matter of seconds. I happened to be outdoors during the hail, so I can vouch for it. The intellectual highlight of the day for me was going to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. First, I discovered something new. I learned that our most recent house guest, someone I've known for 7 years, knows quite a bit about art and really enjoys it. Our favorite exhibit, hands down, was this one with Andrew Qappik's art. The other exhibit that really felt powerful was the Canadian apology to First Nations' Residential school survivors,We Are Sorry. (Canadians were not alone in harming North American native populations, but they do a very good job of apologizing compared to the U.S., in my opinion--and remember, I'm from the U.S.!) This photo of me is at the very top of the museum, in the rooftop sculpture garden. I'm standing next to an artist's gorgeous rende
ring of an Inukshuk. (We weren't supposed to shoot photosin the museum, but since we were technically on top of the museum, our house guest snuck one in.)
Saturday night, we walked through our neighborhood to go out for dinner at a Felafel joint. The Professor and our house guest spotted a rare thing on our walk--leave it to biologists to notice the special in the every day neighborhood nature! It was an apricot tree, and it was loaded with fruit. This is uncommon because apricot trees rarely fruit here as the weather is too harsh. It's also a wonderful coincidence, because I love apricots. I knocked on the door of the house and met our neighbor, who happened to be 9 months pregnant and ready to deliver. It was her due date, so she wasn't picking or putting up apricots herself! She invited us to harvest what we could so it wouldn't be wasted. We provided her with quiet and amusing entertainment. (S
he begged us to give her a shock so she'd have the baby already!)We came home with more than enough apricots for a (very tart) pie. I also am freezing the apricots as pulp as they come ripe. When I have enough pulp, I'll defrost it and make jam.
On Sunday, the Professor gave a talk at the Living Prairie Museum as part of their Monarch Butterfly Festival. It was a bright sunny day so we didn't mind sitting in a shady tent for a while to hear the talk. Also, it was pretty fun to see all these little kids listening intently to the Professor's talk while dressed up in life size butterfly wings, antennae, and face paint.
Sunday afternoon, the biologists went off to yet another park to see more flora and fauna. I stayed home for a couple hours, worked on warping my loom and made a big dinner. It's amazing what some time outdoors does to stimulate the appetite ---People cannot live by apricots alone!
That's what is going on here. House guest #7 left Monday morning right as we went off to the university for a busy day of teaching and research. House guest #8 arrives Thursday. Never a dull moment...or at least, not until it gets colder around here...February might be quiet in comparison!
Labels: apricots, Felafel, foraging, house guests, Living Prairie, weaving warp, Winnipeg Art Gallery
posted by Joanne at 2:30 PM
3 Comments:
What fun you're having! Hurray for the apricots! We have 30 lbs of them from the farmers market and I'm dehydrating like a crazy woman!
The museum sounds really cool! I should really get around to going to more museums in Boston.
Never tried a fresh apricot, but love dried. And since I don't know of any apricot trees around me, I did get a couple from the store today. Good, but tart...and not quite ripe. Maybe in a day or 2 the others will be ready.
We did pick blueberries & I got cherries from a semi-local farm. I have them in the freezer. It's always good to have fresh fruit pie when the snow is flying.
Post a Comment
<< Home