Picspam
I'm winning the war on the shrubberies! And my Mom was right; gloves on the hand using the pruner DO delay the blisters (I had figured it was just one more layer of friction and would speed the process). I actually made it across the left front window as well, and just have the left corner to finish up.
Yesterday Alamo posted their menu for the LOTR feast. It's the same as year before last, back before I knew they did this event, so I'm excited!
First Breakfast
Fresh Hens eggs, nice crispy bacon, grilled mushrooms and orange slice
Second Breakfast
Strawberries and Cream
Elevensies
Pan Seared Sausage and tomatoes with cheeses, cabbage and pickles
Luncheon
Braised Spareribs with mashed potatoes, roast carrots
Afternoon Tea
Baby greens with garlic blackberry vinaigrette, cheese herb galette, served with tea cookies
Dinner
Stewed Coney (rabbit) with taters, carrot, and leek, fresh garden herbs with crusty bread
Supper
Swirl of tomato and spinach soups wild mushroom crouton, apple pie
Which has me thinking about the LOTR themed glass panels that have been a project now for, oh, the entire 4 years we've owned this house. (They'll go in the portion of bay window not covered by curtains in the pic above.) I took a look at the pattern for Rivendell, which is the one I've done the most work on, and it was closer to being done than I remembered.
The screenshot it's based on has kind of funky lighting, which I'll compensate for when choosing glass... my Photoshop-fu isn't good enough to compensate on the photo though.
To motivate myself to actually work on this, I spent time this weekend cataloging and photographing the $1k+ worth of glass I've bought for the project. Ravelry has gotten me in the habit of photographing supplies, and I really needed to make a chart telling me what the hell is in the glass closet and where precisely I can find it all.
The white for the Rivendell buildings looks really boring here, but IRL it's a stipple with amazing light-dispersal qualities... it practically glows, which should be perfect for this and for Minas Tirith. (It didn't get a separate thumbnail list cause it's all the same white, gray, blues, and black of the other panels.) The black for the Black Tower is opaque black flashed with silver, which again is of teh awesome.
I've made this my new desktop, like I did back when I was working on the ten year lamp, so when I sit down to goof of on LJ or play WoW, I'll have the reminder of what I really ought to be doing. Plus, tomorrow's record-breaking 90F (32.3C) day notwithstanding, it's finally cool enough to open the blinds in the glass room and have some natural light in there while I work. Which won't affect the project any -- I'll be using a light box to choose glass and possibly for assembly too -- but makes it much nicer to be in the room at all.
Thursday is a cookie-baking day since we're supposed to have a cold front Wed night. Tomorrow I go to the kidney doctor for the semiannual assurance that I'm fine and that stage II kidney disease is apparently nothing to worry about (provided I only take the good drugs, not ibuprofin or other things metabolized by the kidneys), and I'll run errands while I'm out. So for the rest of today I think I'll poke at the Rivendell pattern, and maybe even print it out full-sized for the final nitpicky pass at changes.
In the evenings when I watch tv, I knit. Right now I'm on Dad's Christmas sock, which I'm just delighted with so far. The yarn (Arucania Ranco) feels nice and shows off cables beautifully. Which is ironic since it's the first sock colorway I've loved so much that I'd be happy with its looks even if it was all stockinette.
Yesterday Alamo posted their menu for the LOTR feast. It's the same as year before last, back before I knew they did this event, so I'm excited!
First Breakfast
Fresh Hens eggs, nice crispy bacon, grilled mushrooms and orange slice
Second Breakfast
Strawberries and Cream
Elevensies
Pan Seared Sausage and tomatoes with cheeses, cabbage and pickles
Luncheon
Braised Spareribs with mashed potatoes, roast carrots
Afternoon Tea
Baby greens with garlic blackberry vinaigrette, cheese herb galette, served with tea cookies
Dinner
Stewed Coney (rabbit) with taters, carrot, and leek, fresh garden herbs with crusty bread
Supper
Swirl of tomato and spinach soups wild mushroom crouton, apple pie
Which has me thinking about the LOTR themed glass panels that have been a project now for, oh, the entire 4 years we've owned this house. (They'll go in the portion of bay window not covered by curtains in the pic above.) I took a look at the pattern for Rivendell, which is the one I've done the most work on, and it was closer to being done than I remembered.
The screenshot it's based on has kind of funky lighting, which I'll compensate for when choosing glass... my Photoshop-fu isn't good enough to compensate on the photo though.
To motivate myself to actually work on this, I spent time this weekend cataloging and photographing the $1k+ worth of glass I've bought for the project. Ravelry has gotten me in the habit of photographing supplies, and I really needed to make a chart telling me what the hell is in the glass closet and where precisely I can find it all.
The white for the Rivendell buildings looks really boring here, but IRL it's a stipple with amazing light-dispersal qualities... it practically glows, which should be perfect for this and for Minas Tirith. (It didn't get a separate thumbnail list cause it's all the same white, gray, blues, and black of the other panels.) The black for the Black Tower is opaque black flashed with silver, which again is of teh awesome.
I've made this my new desktop, like I did back when I was working on the ten year lamp, so when I sit down to goof of on LJ or play WoW, I'll have the reminder of what I really ought to be doing. Plus, tomorrow's record-breaking 90F (32.3C) day notwithstanding, it's finally cool enough to open the blinds in the glass room and have some natural light in there while I work. Which won't affect the project any -- I'll be using a light box to choose glass and possibly for assembly too -- but makes it much nicer to be in the room at all.
Thursday is a cookie-baking day since we're supposed to have a cold front Wed night. Tomorrow I go to the kidney doctor for the semiannual assurance that I'm fine and that stage II kidney disease is apparently nothing to worry about (provided I only take the good drugs, not ibuprofin or other things metabolized by the kidneys), and I'll run errands while I'm out. So for the rest of today I think I'll poke at the Rivendell pattern, and maybe even print it out full-sized for the final nitpicky pass at changes.
In the evenings when I watch tv, I knit. Right now I'm on Dad's Christmas sock, which I'm just delighted with so far. The yarn (Arucania Ranco) feels nice and shows off cables beautifully. Which is ironic since it's the first sock colorway I've loved so much that I'd be happy with its looks even if it was all stockinette.