Thursday, July 17, 2008

too too too too tooooo darn hot

Brax,

It is too hot to blowdry my hair. My hair is really thick and by the time I'm done I'm so sweaty that I shouldn't have bothered showering. It's also too hot to care that my hair looks crappy.

We have central air but we are not using it unless it gets above 85 degrees inside the house. I am proud to say that I have only had the air on four times this summer. All of those times, it was about 4 PM and the house was boiling, and I just turned on the air until the sun went down. My carbon footprint=reduced. I'm lucky in the sense that fans really make a difference in my house. In our old apartment there was absolutely no air circulation--sometimes it would be 70 degrees outside and about 400 million degrees inside. Anyway. We all need to do our part!

It is not exactly too hot to knit, but it is hot enough that my crafty mojo is sort of...lethargic? I've been doing some stuff. The Alexandra top:



Progress has been made, but now I've increased so much that it really looks like a crazy blob on those 24 inch needles. I get to separate the sleeves in a few rows here, then it will really look like something.

Also, birthday yarn!!!!!

Blogger is just DYING to upload my pictures sideways. Why? Why? Anyway, you can turn your computer sideways and see that this is my pretty pretty birthday-present-to-myself yarn worked up into a brioche stitch scarf. I always assumed brioche stitch would be hard. It's not. It's fun! It's sproingy.

I onlt bought 220 yards of the stuff, so it will probably be a pretty short scarf. A scarfette. Anyway, it will be nice and warm and soft and pretty.

And! Now that we live in a house with a yard, we can have plants! My dad gave me some zucchini seeds and Matt planted them. They poked up, like, immediately.

I'm a little nervous about them, since Aunt Purl had a hostile zucchini takeover. But I'm taking the chance. At this point, I think I'd be thrilled at a hostile zucchini takeover. Hooray! Zucchini!

See, I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and it's one of those books that you can't read without reexamining the most basic assumptions of your day to day life. I know that is a vast claim to make, but it's absolutely true. I'm only about 50 pages in and I'm already all "NO MORE ASPARAGUS OUT OF SEASON! WHERE THE HELL DID THIS APPLE COME FROM? WHO LAID THIS EGG?" And so on. (Go on, send my husband a sympathy card, I won't be offended.)

I mean, I'm not going to go living off the land (yet). I live in the city! But next summer I'm going to garden something fierce, and I'm going to immediately renew my commitment to the farmer's market, which lapsed when we moved. I don't know what market to go to here. Any Columbus readers have a recommendation?

Sincerely,
Bruce

P.S. Cheer up!


5 comments:

Cabbage said...

That book is amazing, it *does* make you re-examine your eating habits! I've tried the clintonville farmers market a couple of times, its "meh." That green yarn is bee-yoo-tee-ful!

Kitty Kitty said...

I have a couple of names for CSA programs, but that would be more for next year if you are interested . I agree with cabbage Clintonville farmers market is kind of lax. Worthingtons farmer market on Saturday mornings is a little better. Westerville's is nice, but it is 3-6 on wed which isn't really doable for most. There is always North Market on Saturday morning's and if you can not find it at the both there is the fruit and veggie stand inside. His stuff is mostly local. The owner is always honest about his produce and will give you more info than you probably wanted to know.

Bluecreek Farms is also there if you need locally raised organic meat.

I do a share from a CSA farm and then pick up odds and ends at North Market since thats where I buy meat .

I read animal, Vegetable, Miracle a few weeks ago and I have to agree. It really does make you reexamine your daily consumption. Especially with the most recent tomato scare.

Kitty Kitty said...

PS... One thing about CSA around Ohio there is a certain subset of types of vegetables they grow. Nothing really exotic and they tend to let there produce get big so as to feed the whole family. People who have done CSA in other cities and expect more exotic veggies, delicate veggies, and a large variety are normally disappointed. Ohio CSA is geared more to hearty organic consumption with a lot of qty of the same food item. Just a heads up, I have done 4 of the local farms around here and now I tend to warn friends before they start.

Libby said...

Wow! Thanks for all the information!

michelle f said...

I'm with kitty kitty about Worthington - I think the farmer's market is really good. It gets crowded, though.