Weekend wrap-up

he says he doesnt love her, what do you think?

aww who wouldnt love that face
mom i hate this hat
almost a sock!
beach (lens error)
she can swim
look at her go

one more down

just a tad too small. i need to get myself some real size 4 needles, instead of using japan size 3.4mm they didnt quite work. but i am proud of my work, and i am holding a great buzz, because i couldnt put a full bottle of wine in my cozy...

Monogamy or Polygamy?

i've always been a polygamist knitter, always having two or more projects going at a time. This has made me happy, i like having choices, if i get bored with scarf A i can move to scarf B or scarf C, or beanie D. I have ADD, having something keep my attention for more than 5 minutes is an amazing feat in itself. But recently the Ravelympics have quite possibly changed me, i have had a slew of projects to complete and only been working on one at a time, with the feeling if i at least finish three instead of getting half way done with 5 then i will be proud of myself. i have finished 2 projects and am well on my way to finishing my 3rd. All three have been completely monogamous, one project at a time is a new thing for me, and i think it like it. i think i just may have been bitten my the monogamy knitter bug. 

Ravelympics FO's

i have successfully finished 2 of 5 projects for the Ravelympics, which are more or less the knitting summer olympics, where we (knitters) select challenging projects to complete during the summer olympics (or winter) i have selected to finish 2 projects that i have been trying to find the willpower to finish and to knit three things that are moderately challenging, project 1 Odessa hat pattern by Grumperina 

project 2 finish moms irish hiking scarf
and a picture courtesy of mom via scype this morning, me modeling for her.

KNitin in the sun

i've been knitting alot for the Ravelympics i finished my moms christmas scarf from last year, and today i did a little hat for me, i'll have pictures later. just wanted to share! and i did much of my knitting today at the pool after swimming laps, and now i have a sunburn, not a bad one, but it still sucks.

Roast Garlic, Rosemary Båtard (bastard)

Today i made a bread, from scratch. it was ugly, the bread, i am not to great at bread making yet. 

on a whim i decided i wanted fresh baked bread with my caesar salad dinner tonight, so i went on a search, the internet wide and couldnt find many recipes that were not for bread machines (which i dont have yet, and i cant get here) so i headed to the library and found some really neat books, ones with recipes and ones that explain how bread works, so i got a few books, and headed to the grocery store. got my herbs and came home and made my bread. The book i used was World Breads From Pain De Campagne to Paratha great recipes. my bread wasnt pretty. but i am a beginner bread maker so i forgive myself. it tasted good though. so i am happy. and tonight we had good bread and good salads. today was good. 

Nakagusuku Castle

Today Paul and i went down to the Futenma area and went to Nakagusuku castle ruins, it was really beautiful, and hot, very hot.

i let the pictures do most of the talking.

(please click on the pictures for larger images)

outside the ruins

entrance to the ruins
East China Sea in the distance


there's a well down there but we wernt going down there because there were huge spiders


Pacific Ocean (you could see both sides of the island from up there, it was amazing!)




More Pacific

HUGE SPIDER!!!  it should be know this spider was as big as my hand the body was about 3-4 inches long, biggest spider i have EVER seen, not sure what its called, Banana Spider, some kind of Giant Wood Spider

eta further searching and i have found this spider (though i still dont know its exact name) is part of the Silk Orb Weaver Family  (click for more information)
 


pretty caterpillar

*one more note, these pictures are additional motivation for me to get to the gym. 

fat cat

Super Duper Garlic Potatoes!

needed: 

one potato (or as many as you want to make)

one head of garlic (per every 3ish potatoes)

olive oil

salt and pepper

slice potato about every 1/2 inch almost all the way through

sliver fresh garlic thinly and wedge into slices, i tried to place two or three slivers per slice

sprinkle with salt and pepper

drizzle with a about a 1/2 tbsp of olive oil

wrap in foil 

bake in oven at 475 for 50 min or until fork goes in easily. 

freaking amazing. i had one for lunch today and one for dinner tuesday night. amazingly good. 

My little Lumpia

i dont think i ever shared but Aiko has had a lump growing on her back. i noticed it a few weeks ago, well we finally got into the vet today, the vets first reaction was x-rays, biopsy, expensive, we sat in the room with her feeling it and asking me when it showed up, how much bigger has it gotten, it obviously doesn't hurt her because you can move it and squeeze it without her so much a wincing. after we talked about it for a second, i said, "when she first got it i thought it was her microchip, our cat has one and i can feel his between his shoulders" but Aikos lump is on her side just behind her shoulder. not where a microchip should be. well the vet decided to  check with the microchip checker thing, well low and behold there we have a microchip, so the conclusion: Aiko's  body is very possibly rejecting her microchip. if the lump continues to grow we'll have to have it surgically removed, which will be no fun for any of us, so now we just have to hope that the lump stops growing, even better if it just went away.  At least it's not bothering her.

on a brighter note i got my old navy order today and all my new clothes fit! my pants have gone down a size!