Weekend Snippets

we had a one photo kind of weekend
involving a lot of work and not much play
we had to do grown up things like

:buy food to feed our hungry hungry hippos:

:get stuck in traffic for an insanely long time at the canadian/u.s.a border:
 I'm glad I brought my knitting as we were stuck long enough to knit two whole toddler sleeves

:laundry:
:bedroom rearranging:
:repeated crayon removal from lotte's mouth:

:policing squabbles between two siblings:
:there was mixing of peroxide and baking soda, and cleaning all the things:

but it wasn't completely without adventure

there was a gutsy salamander who escaped and was roaming the bedroom
poor georgina didn't last very long out of her tank
there was a toddler who figured out how to spray the garden hose at her mommy and daddy

when they least suspected, of course
on the jet setting

and she didn't give it up very easily when asked

there were samosas and iced tea

sunday night live music in the park

evening picnicking with friends and their littles, who all danced together to the music
and of course little Evie who is dutifully and deliciously fat

who just laid there as the picnic center piece, enjoying the  commotion around her

Weekending along with Amanda

✻ Friday Food Fair ✻

I know that I often talk about how I miss being in the country, how much I miss my family in Kansas and how "there's no place like home". (And that line is brilliant, because it's indeed true.)

However, there are certain things about being in the city that over the years I've grown to love.
The Events.
The shops.
The communities within the city....

The Markets

As silly as this might sound, if I were to ever leave the city, this would be one of the things I would miss the most. Right after my own friends and community, of course. 

If I hadn't moved to Canada, I don't think I would have the passion I do today for finding new, and different (and sometimes seemingly downright bizarre) foods when I shop at these ethnic markets and shops that are scattered throughout our city.

 I do realize that there are American cities that hold the same treasures, but I assure you, I lived no where near these places. 
If I still lived where I did, I have not a single doubt in my mind that my grocery shopping would be limited to the local Walmart and Krogers. My widest sense of culture would include some Mexican, Runza hut, and the local American-Chinese Buffet. 
Of course there would definitely be some freedom in getting food from local farms-which would be fantastic. But that's another post.

When I first visited Canada, we stayed in Toronto with some friends, close to Chinatown. I remember walking down the sidewalk of this overwhelmingly busy city in complete awe, and a little bit of shock (and possibly experiencing a little bit of PTSD over the whole subway thing,)  at how close together the buildings were, how people didn't all have their own driveway or even their own front yards, but most of all, how different "groceries" were. 

Milk came in bags, first of all. 
I still think that's gross, and quite wrong, for the record, but there it is. 

But this was so much more than bagged milk. 

 This was about the live chickens in make-shift shopping cart cages being sold on the sidewalk.

Roasted Chickens hanging in windows
The flopping fish laid out on beds of ice. 
Yogurt in twenty varieties alone without even including the ones that were flavoured. 
Cheeses besides just Mozzerella and Cheddar, that you didn't even have to make yourself. Sausages hanging from open rafter ceilings in mesh bags.

Fast food didn't have to be McDonalds or Wendys. 

(I later learned on the same trip that Canada did indeed have these places too, and I unabashedly admit, breathed a small sigh of relief. I could learn to love Ronald even though he did have a small, unfamiliar maple leaf on the pocket of his fashionably horrible, but internationally loved, striped shirt.)

Fast food here could mean buying a cup of coffee and a doughnut from the man wearing a turban standing at a booth full of newspapers at that terrible, damaging, subway station.
I had recently seen Annie. I asked my Dad if that man was "Punjab". He may have been, but i'm sure that wasn't his name.


It could mean buying a sausage from a man who just happened to have his bbq with him on the street corner. 
Please note, I was young.

Or buying a big bowl of noodle soup, so big it could feed our whole family, from the restaurant that didn't bother to hang curtains in their kitchen windows, even though the kitchen, oddly, happened to be right at the front of their restaurant.  
I may have been just a little bit dumb, too.

My favorite "Canadian" fast food became bbq pork and curry beef buns from the tung hing bakery. The curry beef was so spicy to my little untrained palette that I remember my ear drums burning. And I liked it.

Although, I remember being so thirsty- to the point of tears, and I really could have used some water. And at the time, bottled water wasn't really a thing yet, and it was near impossible to get a cup of water at an authentic Chinese restaurant or bakery.
So I had to settle for scalding hot Jasmine tea that blistered the roof of my mouth.
Jasmine and I have never really been good friends since that incident.

I naively thought that all of Canada was like this. 
I later learned that we were moving to another city entirely, not Toronto, and certainly not Chinatown, but to a city with the same old boring chain grocery stores, with plentiful hints of promise for something more. A city that grew to have a lot of the same wonderful places and cultures of people.

We are so very blessed to be able to have the world at our doorstep.
And it's not just about the food. Sure, the food tastes amazing, and is full of surprises. But it's also the people. The stories behind the foods and where they came from.The history behind it all. Why did they think to do this, with these spices, to this vegetable? How did they turn this mundane grain into something so magical?

Ask anyone in my family, and they'll tell you that I'm the one to come to for weird food or beverages. And it's true. I'll be the first to try anything that I haven't seen before. 
Yes, Sometimes it's only once.
I have ordered things in restaurants that have made the cooks come out and ask me, nicely, "lady, are you sure this is what you mean to order?"
Then they bring me whatever the experiment of the day is, and my family (and on occasion, the staff) waits for me to try the first bite. This usually ends in passing it around the table so that everyone can try a bite or sip. Or...it ends in laughter.
FYI. If something is called "Fire Bowl", they aren't kidding around.

While I don't get to try ethnic restaurants as often as I would like-I do have a little hobby, (err, habit-I blame my mother,) of trying something new each time I shop at a market.
Sometimes it's a strange candy from India. Sometimes it's an Eastern European beverage. Or it's a preserved and fermented bottle of unidentified vegetables that you're supposed to eat on rice. Of course, I won't know it's supposed to be eaten on rice until I go home, translate the label online and research it.
Once in a while, it's a tin can of Chinese radishes, intended for Hot and Sour soup, that spark when you put them in the microwave and you decide that you probably Shouldn't be eating them.

Oh, the adventure.

I've decided that each Friday shall be Friday Food Fair here on the Mayberry Home Journal. 

Each week I will post about whatever food adventure I've recently had. Yes, (much to the Mr's regret, although, often pleasure) this is at least a weekly thing. 

It might be a packaged food, it might be prepared.
It might be a beverage.
It might be a fruit. It might be vegetable.
It might be unidentifiable.
It might be healthy.
It might involve hot water and chemicals.
It might be something that everyone else has had and I've just missed out on because sometimes it seems I live under a rock these days.

Join me on Fridays for the newest adventure. And please feel free to share what food adventures you've had recently, either in the comments or on my facebook page.

P.S. My prayers have been answered, for there's a Tung Hing bakery in Hamilton now too. You should go pick yourself up a curry beef bun.

And some water.

Yarn Along :: Leftie ::

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?  -Yarning along with Ginny

The Leftie has finally crawled off my needles. If anyone remembers, last week I was talking about playing chicken with what was left of my itty bitty ball of yarn. 

Well, I lost at that game.
There wasn't enough to do a final repeat, so I ended up having to rip back to the last red leaf and binding off there. And the real kicker was that only had a eeensy weensy bit of red left to do it with. But alas, it was done, with about 8 inches to spare. Horray!

I haven't started any large projects since completing this, but I'm finishing up a few little Lotte sweaters for the fall. Nothing fancy, just plain Jane cozy. I'm still itching to find the perfect "larger" project. I think I may have fallen in love with fingering weight, something that I never thought would happen.

I'm sad to report that my reading hasn't been up to snuff this week. I've dug my way through some more of "the Beauty of Humanity Movement" and I've really enjoyed it so far.
And-each time I've picked it up, it's left me craving phở (traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup, which is pronounced feu-like fire is pronounced in french), so I might have to make some this week.

What have you been knitting? Or making? Or reading?

xo

Weekend Snippets

Warm, humid breeze

...followed by rain showers

on a garden full of promise

evening songs sung by cicadas

a little road trip with Papaw Jake

a few rows in on a frustrating knitting project with a pattern full of errors

but it was all ok because there was fresh strawberry juice on ice

and stacks of cucumbers layered with dill 

bluegrass and blues for background music

played by our very own talented Zeke
an evening at the kitchen table, 

of doodling lots and lots of babies with a little certain someone
she made me draw the whole family

and then scribbled over each and every person
a late night of laundry duty

sunday morning church service

a quick trip (say what??) into my new favorite, local yarn store

a picnic of bruchetta sandwiches at the park with Mamaw & Papaw Willie

laying on blankets in the grass

while listening to a local band who rocked it

new dancing partners

snuggles with the newest family member...and kissing her chubby cheeks

lighting bugs on the walk home

a tall glass of good ol' Kansas style iced tea (there's no taste like home?)
while flipping through a fun magazine

tired bodies into bed.

* * *

joining Amanda in Weekending

Yarning Along...Out Back

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now?

I'm blogging from the back yard today, as it's gorgeous outside and this temperature shouldn't be missed.  We've had beautiful weather these last few days.
Not too hot, but warm enough that the tomatoes are happy and thriving. (Which is really all that matters...right?)

Things feel a little bit southern out here-Zeke is practicing the slide guitar, glasses are filled with iced tea, and a plate of piping hot fried zucchini is sitting in the middle our picnic blanket, cooling just enough that we can devour them comfortably.

I'm working on my Leftie, and I'm at that point where I get to play a little bit of *chicken* with whats left of my yarn. Is it enough to finish another repeat? Do i knit on, and risk running out and having to rip back? Or do i just rip back now to the end of the last repeat and kind off? I love this kind of dilemma, and it might be sad to admit, but it makes me as pleased as pie.

I just finished reading 'The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow', and i think i can sincerely say that its one of the best books that I've ever read. It reads like a real, heartfelt, deep and fascinating tale.

It was a book that didn't have me on the edge of my seat, but i still couldn't put it down.
Set in the Fifties, in New Orleans, the scenery alone was enough to keep me captivated. The actual story line was absolutely beautiful though, and the characters were believably human, peppered with flaw, love, and haunting remorse.

Its going to be difficult to find another book to follow in its footsteps, but the first few chapters of "The Beauty of Humanity Movement" by Camilla Gibb have shown a lot of promise! It's set in Vietnam, and loaded with sweet historic and cultural tidbits, which is right up my alley.

The Zucchini is cooled off now, off to get some before I miss out!

::Yarn Along::

There are a lot of projects on multiple needles right now...I need to get some of them finished before I can start more. It's an illness, I think. (One that I secretly enjoy.)

My current on going projects were put on hold this week because I did want to do something quick and fun, and have a finished product to show for it. My sister told me that her new wee sugar-pie was lacking things with long sleeves, and needed something that could warm her up on cool nights or in drafty rooms with air conditioning.
I saw my dear friend Rachel's sweater that she made and thought it the perfect solution and whipped up one of my own, from yarn I already had in my stash that a friend gave me a while back. It's by three irish girls and the colourway is "CandyLand". It reminds me of saltwater taffy, delicious!

The pattern called for fingering and was to fit a newborn. This wool is worsted, so it turned out slightly larger, which is good, because she's not a tiny baby. Newborn, yes. But she's growing like a weed. A porky, pudgy, very adorable weed. (with the biggest eyes I've ever seen.)
I was hoping to get a picture of her in it because really, she's the cute part, but it just so happens that I finished the sweater just in time for a heat wave to hit Ontario, and it's hot enough right now that no one has any business putting on a sweater right now, not even a newborn. If it cools down next week, I might get lucky enough to get a picture of her wearing it.
Project notes here. 

On a side note, I received the happiest mail ever this week. I had ordered some raw, unwashed wool from, British Columbia's  the Fibre Mine  so that the boys could try washing and carding, as they've been wanting to for a long time now.
When I opened the package, the scent escaped and I was immediately taken back to the summer fair grounds, the 4H club, and my Aunt Debbie's farm in Nebraska.
It was all bundled up so softly and delicately, and the farmer also included a lot of samples of fleece from other breeds. What a fun way to try out different fibers....


....Or just sit and sniff them, like I might do.

Yarn Along {Breaking Black}

This week the boys and I decided to have a little wool dyeing experiment.

We had some plain wool sitting around that a friend had given me-the colours were a light army  green and an *almost* cornflower blue, neither of which were terribly saturated. 

I'd read about breaking black Wilton food colouring-which is really neat. Black is just made up of various colours, and when you add acids, sometimes the colouring "breaks" into all the original colours and dyes in blotches. If you're trying to get a uniform colour, this wouldn't be a successful way to dye. But....we had free wool, a rainy afternoon and decided to give it a go.

 So this is the "before" shot of the green. I didn't get one of the blue, because i'm irresponsible like that.

 We unwound it into big hanks (I used my swift for this and it was kinda messy, but it worked well enough.)
Then we soaked these puppies in water and some vinegar for about 20 minutes.

 Dissolved the black food colouring into some water, and then added it to a pot of water and vinegar, and let it heat up. I added the wool, this time one on top of the other. I knew this would make *some* colour difference, but I wasn't sure how much.

 Reduced it to a simmer and let it go about 25 minutes, until the water around it was all clear. (The wool soaked up the dye.) You can see around the edges, the reds that broke away from the black dye.

 We let the wool cool. I ran a sink full of cold water and set the whole pot in there to cool it more quickly without shocking the yarn. (I don't even know what that really means, to be honest. I just read somewhere not to do it.) Apparently wool is sensitive to rapid temperature changes...kinda like me.

Then we gently rinsed the wool with some mild soap (my beloved Meyers lemon verbena dish detergent, actually-one of the few dish soaps i'm not allergic to!) Doing this over a colander helped because the water could run through it without us handling it too much. (Wet fibers get all cuddly with each-other and felt into one-which would be really messy.)
We rinsed until the water ran clear, which didn't take long at all because the wool had already soaked up most of the dye anyway.

The hank that was on the bottom of the pot soaked up most of the dye. See the one that's still green? That portion of wool was the one closest to the top.

Hung the wool up on the porch and sat nearby with small objects to throw at the squirrels who tried to steal it for who knows what.

Once dry, we took a look at the way the dye had broken-and it looked pretty cool. But not so great on the army green. I think if it had been white wool it would have been really pretty. But the result was kind of muddy.

So we decided it was going back in the pot. We decided to go with the greens since that was the direction the wool was going to go anyway.

 This time used several blues to get this mix, to sort of brighten up the greens a bit.

 I used more dye this time, so even though it simmered for almost 45 minutes, the water never *totally* cleared.

 Same process...cold bath for the pot, rinse with soap.

 It started to rain so hard though (and sideways) that we couldn't hang it up on the porch, so we spun it instead.

 And then hung it up while still a bit damp, once the sun came out.

 Twisted it back into hanks-and voila! (I turned a folding chair upside down on a dining room chair and used it's legs diagonally to wrap it back into hanks. Unconventional, but it worked.)

 I think I need a Niddy Noddy, and I took a  risk of complete embarrassment in having to ask the Mr. to make one for me. You should have seen the expression on his face when he repeated the words "niiiiiiiddy nooooddy....?" to me in complete confusion.
Awesome tool. Totally ridiculous name. Just sayin'. 

Oh, and The purple is the cornflower blue batch that we did later, using reds and blues.  We dyed those hanks in cake form, but both side by side so that they'd soak the dye up the same way.
I'm not sure what i'm going to make with them yet, but I'll post a picture once knit up to show the way the colour turned out.
That's one of the things I noticed, while looking online for dyeing tutorials, is that everyone showed how to dye, but not very many people showed the knitted results of different dye methods-which left me really curious!

The boys wanted to name our colours after things that only boys would come up with. And since they helped me, I only thought it fair to let them. So I won't repeat the original names.... They're gross.
I had to talk them down to less disgusting names, which took about a half hour of negotiation.  So, I give you, "Gaseous Peacock" and "Purple People Eater".