Slacking off again

I meant to blog about my wonderful Birthday last week, and am just now getting around to it.

First, the SigO spoiled me rotten. Tons of great presents, including a Kindle, BowFlex dumbbells, P90X, and a Zumba DVD set. No, he's not trying to tell me something - this is what I asked for.

If you're not already green with envy, here's the kicker...

We went to the Inn at Little Washington Saturday night for dinner. Every wonderful thing you've heard about it is an under statement!

We had:

Appetizers:

Both: A Melange of Spicy big Eye Tuna with Mango, Avocado, Crispy Shallots and Sake-Yuzu Sorbet (This was my favorite)

Second Course:

Me: A Marriage of Hot and Cold Foie Gras with Ice Wine Jelly and House Made Quince Preserves

SigO: Pecan-Crusted Soft Shell Crab Tempura with Italian Mustard Fruit and Marinated Cabbage Slaw (this was his favorite)

Main Course:

Me: Four Story Hill Farm Veal Sweetbreads on Pappardelle Pasta with Local Morels, Asparagus and Virginia Country Ham

SigO: Veal Parmesan Reincarnated: Prosciutto Wrapped, Pan Roasted Loin of Pennsylvania Veal with Spinach Raviolini and Parmesan Broth

Dessert:

Me: Southern Butter Pecan Ice Cream Sandwich with Hot Caramel Sauce

Him: A Chocolate Mint Fantasy: Mint Ice Cream Festooned with Chocolate Streamers (it looked like an elaborate sculpture)

Of course, we paired this with some nice wines. I was just a touch typsy when I came out (he drove - natch), so I was entranced with everything. The sky was spectacular and I was taking pictures like crazy. He kept telling me I was going to laugh at myself when I saw them the next day, but look at what I got:

But of course, he had to be right about a few of them:

Slip Sliding Away

The traveling sock went back-country camping this weekend.

You should know that my traveling sock sees a lot less than the Yarn Harlot's traveling sock. Hers goes with her on long flights all over the world and gets to meet lots of fellow knitters at book signing events, etc.

Mine typically only goes with me from the house to the office and back as I sit for 1/8th of my day in traffic every day. I rarely let my traveling socks out of the car until they are done and replaced with a new traveling sock (for the record, I'm on my 4th pair and I only learned to knit a few years ago - yes - traffic seriously sux where I live). Still, it made sense to take it with me this time since it's small, and 100% stockinette stitch, so I wouldn't need to carry a pattern in my pack.

The other advantage to taking the traveling sock is that the fiber is a superwash-very important when there is the risk of hiking in a downpour, as we did this weekend.

The first day was nice. Just crisp enough to keep us cool, without being so cold that we were uncomfortable. No rain fell on us, as we had just missed it. However, since it has been falling persistently for several weeks now, the ground was completely drenched. As we slogged up what was supposed to be our trail, but more closely resembled a creek bed, I remember thinking "Boy, I'm sure glad we're hiking a loop so we don't have to come back this way!" At that point, the rain gods threw back their heads, and sat down to plot tomorrows weather while laughing maliciously at their evil machinations.

The rains had not only soaked the grounds, but they had swollen the river (in West Virginia they call it a Otter Creek, but let me assure you...no where, NO WHERE in Texas would this thing ever be called a creek) we were supposed to ford across. It was too high and too fast for us to make it across, so we ended up retracing our steps and returning to a camp site we had passed earlier, with the cold hard reality of having to retrace our entire route on the hike back to our cars come morning.

But for now, why focus on that, right? Instead I focused on my wine - which, I have to tell you, was pretty darn tasty. And considering I was drinking from a piece of very old tupperware, that's really saying something.

I've failed to mention that I went on this trip with Washington Women Outdoors (WWO), and they had pitched it as "Gourmet Backpacking". And they didn't disappoint. For dinner, we had burritos with beans, rice, cilantro, cumin, avocado and grilled onions, garlic and peppers. For dessert we had baked apples stuffed with oatmeal, cinnamon and raisins. For breakfast, we had crepes filled with banana, nutella and peanut butter. No kidding, it was really great food. Our trip leader was a super-hero with powers that enabled her to start fires from wet wood. I admit to being amazed, not just with that, but with how good everything tasted.

About midnight, the rain began to fall. And fall. And fall. It's really saying something when breakfast tastes good even when you're eating it in the rain. We struck camp around 8AM and hit the trail. There's only so much wet-weather gear and gore-tex boots can protect against, and mine failed around 2/3 of the way in, but we made some seriously good time. Nothing like a torrential downpour to hasten your steps. For those of you reading this and thinking "it wasn't raining that hard..." - Hey! It's my blog, and my story.

Rain or not, it was a pretty hike, with good people and good food and I'm sure after I can feel all my extremities, I'll be ready to hit the trail again.

Zip-a-di-do-dah and Splish Splash

Knitting took a back seat this weekend to outdoor adventure. The SigO and I went to West Virginia (Paddle Faster, I hear banjo's!) and spent the weekend at the Ace Adventure Resort (their idea for a name - not mine - don't get me wrong - I absolutely loved it there, but if there's not a manicure/pedicure and hot rocks massage center, then in my book, it ain't a resort - but that's just me). It's the "Grand Canyon of the East" (again - their billing, not mine - although it really is very lovely). The New River and the Gauley River cut through this area and provide for some pretty intense whitewater rafting, but before we shot the rapids, we first did some evening rappelling.The SigO accidentally got some video of me - which I would normally have deleted, but I actually like this one, so thought I'd share:

It was a great time - we went off the cliff five times each - we would have gone many more times, but to get back to the top was a slight climb and after five of those, my fun meter was pegged.

The next day we got up nice and early and headed out to the rapids. We shot the New River. The Gauley isn't at its peak until October when the Army Corps of Engineers releases the dams and floods the Gauley - so yes - we'll be back in October.

For this trip, we had, in my opinion, the best river guide out there. While other rafts were tipping over and spilling out their occupants, we maneuvered through class fours and class fives with great expertise - in my humble opinion. Whether we were expert or not, the simple truth is we never got tipped out of our boat - I'm just sayin'.

Of course, I didn't leave the knitting behind altogether. In fact, I got plenty done on the way down there and on the way back and got some done after the rafting trip. I got a few double takes whenever people who saw me out on the river saw me peacefully knitting away on my cardigan, but that's just because they don't understand the adventures of knitting!
Anyway, I've finished a sleeve on my cardigan, and just have the second sleeve (and a serious case of second sleeve syndrome) and the button band to knit.

A weekend of adventure - knitting, rafting and rappelling - what more can a girl ask for?

Notes from Down Under

Well, I'm back in the good ole USofA. Australia was pretty great - I could definitely envision retiring down there. It's a nice mix of US and European mentalities. They have the openess of the US, but the pace of Europe.

Traveling there and back was brutally long, but we flew business class, so the flights and the airport lounges definitely alleviated some of the travel pains. Business class on Cathay Pacific provided us with our very own cubicle to lounge in.
I'm wearing a top I finished the night before we left. Every time I've traveled in the past, I've been way too cold - in the airports and on the plane. On this trip, however, I thought I was going to die of heat in this sweater - which is made from Noro Silk Garden. By the time we got to Hong Kong (layover 2 of 4), I was drenched in sweat. Thankfully, the business class lounge in Hong Kong had showers.
Awesome showers.

We arrived in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and were given a quick tour of the area. We spent our week working in this building.
At the end of the week, Carmen - the best hostess you could ever hope for - took us to a local yarn shop where I bought a locally dyed Merino/Possum blend. She also took us to the Parliament building:
And then to the golf course to check out the roo's:
If you look at her pouch, you can see a slight bulge - that's her baby. I could totally see it moving around in there, but never actually saw the joey itself.

After she took us to see live roo's, she then took us to her house and fed us roo meat. Taste's like a cross between steak and deer meat, but not very gamey. Kinda sweet.

The next morning we headed to Namadgi National park which has some rock paintings presumably 3700 years old.
We saw lots more roo's out there - and some dingos - and the results when dingos and roo's meet:
Sunday, we headed up to Sydney.
Opera season was over and all ballets were completely sold out, but we did get a chance to hear Rita - Isreal's Diva.

Monday we headed across the harbor to the Taronga Zoo, which was definitely one of the best zoo experiences of my life. You know the typical zoo - if you see an animal at all, it's lying at the back of the cage looking bored. These animals were all quite active. The koala's were definitely the highlight. This young lady obviously has a thing for red heads.
Tuesday morning, I took a train out to the suburbs and met up with Jane Slicer-Smith. I took a Fair Isle class from her at Stitches East last year and was seriously in love with her designs, but when I tried to check anything out at the booth representing her, I could barely squeeze in. Going out to her studio was much nicer - I got to see all of her designs unencumbered by any other customers. It was also sheer luck that I got to hook up with her while I was in town as she had just gotten back from a show and was leaving for another the next day. The knitting gods must love me. They ought to - I sacrifice a great deal of my income on the knitting altar.

Other highlights of the trip include the Aquarium where I saw the biggest sting ray I've ever seen:
The Sydney Tower:
Hyde Park:
And a great treat, right at the end, totally unplanned, The Australian Museum. Lot's of aboriginal art:
And a quirky sense of humor. You can see he's reading a book, with his pet dog on a leash, a bird in the bird cage, and just behind him you can see a little of the cat
Which is chasing a mouse into a mouse hole.
Only in Australia!

Land Down Below

Well, here I am in the Australian Capital Territory and so far I haven't seen any women rolling nor have I witnessed any men thundering. I have seen some Vegemite, if not in the packaging of a sandwich though. I've not had the guts to taste it yet. Every non-Aussie (pronounced Ozzie - and don't you DARE forget it, let me tell you!) tells me Vegemite is disgusting and every Aussie I've spoken to thus far assures me it's quite tasty. So, you can see my reluctance.
Despite all the hype and hoopla, they are not a crazy, rowdy bunch of ruffians. In fact, most times I have to strain to hear them since with their accents and typical soft-spoken natures, it's not at all easy to understand them. They all keep assuring me it's because I haven't gotten them drunk enough. One man actually encouraged me to show him some jugs and he'd be more voluble. Since this was in front of everyone, and during work, I stood there and sputtered for a moment before he finished his sentence -he wanted me to show him some jugs of beer...that was his story anyway.
As I'm here on business and the days have been rather long, I've not had the chance to do much knitting, much less go shopping for yarn, but I do expect that to be remedied tomorrow or sometime this weekend.
I've not seen any kangaroos yet. Also to be remedied this weekend. I did see quite a lot of wild birds here - birds that many Americans pay a small fortune for - like cockatiels, parakeets, etc. The state bird is the Magpie that makes a nice trilling sound in the morning, but the crows here are very odd - they look the same, but they sound like an infant with an evil laugh. I assure you, if I can get a good recording of it, I'll post it here.
I've gotten a few good shots on my camera, but as I was too dimwitted to bring along the cord that connects it to the laptop, all pictoral proof that I'm alive and well down here will have to wait for a bit.
Anyway, that's my post from Down Under. To be continued later as the opportunity presents itself.
BTW, I LOVE morning and afternoon tea. Yes - we do breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner - I'm going to need two seats on the flight back home.
Until then, G'day mate!

Lovely DC

Trying to avoid traffic in the DC Metro area is a daily adventure. Which route will offer the least hideous commute today?

Yesterday, I decided on what is the longest commute in mileage, but frequently the shortest commute in time. This commute takes me right past the Lincoln Memorial. Off in the distance is the Capital and the National Memorial, and yesterday, the sky was incredible. So, check this picture out:

The funny thing about this picture is you have to try to imagine me fumbling to get the camera out of the purse, turn it on, and hold it up in the corner of the windshield - all this while driving around a curve in the road - I couldn't believe it when I got to work and could really look at the pic and see that it actually turned out nicely. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised - it's all the practice I get knitting and driving at the same time.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Camping, Blisters and Ravelry

We had some unseasonably warm weather this past weekend, and I felt like it would be a good opportunity to get out of the house and do some camping.

As I was driving away, I did feel a slight pang of loss. I was leaving the SigO behind since his daughter was coming over for the weekend, which exempts him from outdoor excursions. I even considered turning back and telling him we'd wait until the next good weekend and go together. But first, let me go to Jiffy Lube and get my oil changed.

Oh, wait - huge line there - never mind. OK, let me go get some gas...

Oh man, huge line there - OK, I gotta get outta here, I think to myself - get some solitude.

I get to the highway and, you guessed it - it was a parking lot.

So, an 1.5hrs on back roads and I was finally there. Ah! Peace and Quiet out in the woods of Massanutten Mountain. Ah! Listen to those birds, the crickets, the....

masses of screaming kids, screeching teenagers and thumping subwoofers.

There is no escaping the crowds of the mid-atlantic coastal area, obviously. I mean, come on, it's the first weekend in March - you're all supposed to be at home getting your lawns ready for spring, not camping out here with me!

Still, I wasn't about to head home, so I set about putting the campsite together. This would be the first time I'd used my new tent - a gift from the SigO - and I was completely unprepared for how massive it really was. These things don't look that big in the store, surrounded by even bigger tents. At 6', I was still barely tall enough to get the rain canvas over the top of the tent.

In case it doesn't really look all that big from the outside, here's the inside.

That's 1/2 of the inside - and that's a queen size inflatable mattress on the ground - yes, with plenty of room to spare all around it. I could have set up headquarters in that thing and led battle drills or something.

Anyroad, after getting the campsite all set up - time to go for a hike. In my new boots. Stupid, I know, but how else do you break them in, right? Vasque boots and my feet DO NOT get along. My toes were bleeding after less than 5 miles. My toes, for crying out loud. And my legs were screaming at me too. Why? you may ask. Well, I'll tell you. You try walking without putting any pressure on your feet at all. It's no easy trick, I can assure you and it makes for some sore muscles at the end of the day. Since it's still early in the year, the scenery was pretty bleak, but I did think the way the light fell on these mossy rocks was pretty incredible.

So, the camp thing was only OK. The highlight was my new popcorn popper - for camping. Very fun popping corn over a fire.

Other recent events: The SigO celebrated his half century mark. I use the term "celebrate" very loosely. He did get some good Steelers toys, so he did have some happy moments.

And finally, the big news. I got a message from Ravelry asking permission to use one of my photos on the Sideways Striped Pullover pattern page.

Notice the copyright under the photo! Woo Hoo!! I'm famous.