growing up
31/07/2008
The little guys aren’t quite so little many more. I’ll have to put them into actual planters soon, I think.
In other news, the lavender seeds I started last week have begun to sprout, with the Munstead sprouting first. The Hidcote is catching up, but no action from the Dwarf Hidcote. No action either, from the teacup African Violets.
Saran wrapping seedlings seems to speed up the germination, if you’re using jiffys. Park Seeds starter packs also do well in that area, although watering the seedlings through that thingey is a little awkward.
More soon!
working in progress
25/07/2008
The other day, KF’s cousin (in-law) – our favourite Dr M – remarked how now that I spend more time at home I’m getting all sorts of domesticated.
I can pretty much state for a fact that I’ve always had it in me, but just didn’t see the point domesticating in someplace that wasn’t my own habitat. Now that I’ve put it off for almost a year, I feel compelled to make an enthusiastic comeback.
Hence, the odd-cooking, gardening and now knitting. I even upped the gardening a notch the day before yesterday and took it outdoors! The weather was fine and sunny enough for it. But I ended up sore the whole of yesterday from the back breaking work.
The lesson learnt?
1. Weeds that grow out of control, have to be DUG out. That endless yanking is futile and stupid and you end up pulling something other than a weed out, like your back or hamstrings.
2. You need the right tools for the right job. Your little plastic spadey thingey is just that – a little plastic spadey thingey.
3. Don’t laugh at your dad for spending copious amounts of time in the garden. He doesn’t enjoy it all 4 hours he’s out there. Don’t make it worse by prancing around and asking stupid questions. Because years down the road when you have to do it, it isn’t so funny anymore. I’m probably not going to have kids simply because I know what went around, will come around.
About kids – I thought 1 skein of that candy pink yarn would yield enough for two kiddie scarves, but I think I am sorely mistaken. So back to the drawing board – the scarf will need a new prospective (young) owner – think I have someone in mind. That’s the thing with twins in the family. You can’t ever get away with getting one gift. And in KF’s family, the multiplier effect is quite large.
More knitting ensues.
Poached Salmon
20/07/2008
Before I got really sniffly and gross-out sick, I was actually having a pretty good time knitting and cooking.
On Wednesday, I poached myself a couple of salmon steaks – in an effort to re-create that dish that I loved eating at SG Ikea.
We’ve been heading the the Palo Alto Ikea – it’s slightly further than the Emeryville one, but we don’t have to cross the bridge, and we usually make a little stop over at A and R’s to drop off their order of preserved beets. Though slightly larger than the ones I’m used to back home, the cafeteria quality is nowhere compared to ours in SG. If that can even be possible.
The little old cafeteria ladies at the Alexandra Ikea were always pretty pleasant, and the food was astonishingly normal. Not the gourmet feast, but the salmon seemed pretty fresh – not like yesterday’s leftovers – and the chicken wings had a healthy turnover. I mean, there is usually a line to get in come lunchtime!
The cafeteria at Palo Alto Ikea – is how cafeterias are usually depicted in US movies or TV shows. Unhappy, unfulfilled kitchen staff wearing ridiculous white showercaps doing the same mundane thing over and over again, and food that looks like Rover’s leftovers. It’s not even funny.
So, when I saw a couple of salmon steaks at Safeway the other day, I decided it can’t be all that difficult to poach salmon. I mean, people do more to poach halibut! Well, they pretty much have to, halibut is just boring whitefish.
A quick search off my still favourite Search Engine, and I found this recipe: Dill Poached Salmon. It seemed easy enough. Chicken stock, salmon fillets, dill. As expected of a real hardcore cook like me, I had no chicken stock, no dill, but at least I’ve got the salmon! We’re ready to rumble.
So, in a shallow pot went my two fillets of salmon, enough water to cover half of it, some sliced ginger, four nubs of garlic, some kaffir lime zest and juice. When the water started to boil, I just put it on low and simmered the fish gently. Took all in all about 15 minutes with the pot covered. The fish came out fantastic – juicy, tender and soft. Just a teensy tad fishy. Maybe next time I try more ginger, or a butter-dill sauce like at Ikea. But really. What kind of half-assed cook would I be if I had dill around the house. I’m raising some mint and parsley, by the way. And basil. So perhaps when they grow up, I might actually make a decent meal.
Boiled some potatoes, then tossed them with olive oil and garlic. Yay. Done.
caught a bug that flu off KF
18/07/2008
stupid as it sounds.
There I was, thinking I’d some sort of immunity against the common cold. Dumb dumb dumb.
Now I’m just sick sick sick.
I’ve a splitting headache. Add that with my already sparkling personality and you’ve got a very grouchy (ok, grouchier than usual) Qoo.
Bleah.
In other news, the knitting is coming along spiffily. When I told my mom about my new hobby, she said she always wanted to learn and was glad I now knew how. She also asked what I’m making, to which I replied, “a dishcloth”.
It took her 5 minutes to stop cackling over the phone.
Well, I guess we all know who‘s not getting dishcloths for Christmas.
project knit
14/07/2008
I’ve been itching to learn to knit since I was 12. When I was 18, I went to Spotlight down over at (then) Paragon to try to get started with some yarn and maybe a book or something. Turns out I picked out a nifty crochet book and went down that path instead. A large tote bag and many years later, I can’t remember how to crochet, and I still can’t knit.
This weekend while Sharks was over she taught me how to knit and I have to say I think it’s more fun than crocheting. Crocheting is rather time consuming and slow, and it doesn’t allow for multi-tasking, so all you have is a monologue in your head which is kind of boring. Knitting is sort of like driving. You can sing to it.
So when Sharks went yarn shopping all over town this weekend, I went along and bought myself some stuff to start with. I have to admit I did go a little nutty over the yarn as I do beginning with projects (remember the whole bead jewellery phase?) but I think I’m stopping while I’m ahead – with the shopping – and am now researching patterns to work on.
At one of the stores we went to, they gave a free (small) fuzzball of yarn with every purchase and Sharks picked me out a really cute, totally me, blue-grey-magenta-brown one. Very understated chic. Like a good camper, I went ahead and knitted that up with every intention of turning it into a small pouch but ran out of yarn halfway through. It’s now a coaster for my little nookside magazine table. I went back to try and get more of the same colour, but they don’t have the same thing anymore. I couldn’t even find anything vaguely like it that I liked, so no matching coasters for the dining room. I did however, buy a lot more stuff, and took a pink fuzzball this time. It’s part wool part silk, so it’s very soft and a tad shiny. Maybe I’ll leave that for a crochet project.
Am very pleased with my loot, and between the knitting, crocheting and gardening, I think I’ll be plenty tied up till the next corporate adventure.
zoom zoom race!
10/07/2008
Sharks and Al arrived yesterday, and we planned a pretty full day today. We had to do a few mundane boring administrative thingeys, but after that the day was filled with good food, shopping, and racing.
This is the life.
enjoying the new domain
09/07/2008
It’s been a couple months since the whole MyDomain debacle, but I guess I’m settling into my new domain here quite nicely. Perhaps I should just ditch the old domain for good.
In other news, despite my best efforts to exercise restraint, I’ve managed to order so much stuff off Amazon that the UPS chick who does my route now knows me. Yesterday she said, “You hit the jackpot today! 4 packages!”
I was going to respond, “That’s not all of it” but I guess she’d figure that out sooner or later.
The Seed Experiment is doing quite well, unlike the lavender and rosemary I ordered off Home Depot. The already grown plants didn’t take to the journey from Greenville, SC and the lavender eventually transformed to compost. After some research I decided to take a leap and order lavender seeds instead. They should arrive next week. For good measure I’m trying to root some cuttings I took from KF’s cousin’s backyard. It’s not exactly the dwarf Lavender variety I was shooting for, but it’ll do!
I also found out that ugly Lavender-like plant in the window planter on my smaller bedroom window is a Lavender too, just Spanish Lavender.
A neat trick I’m trying is to cover the seedlings in plastic wrap while they are germinating. Apparently it helps keep the moisture in, so they sprout faster. Am trying that with a second batch of Parsley and Mint. KF wants me to plant some Basil too, but I don’t know about that. I don’t like the smell of Basil.
The original batch of Zinnia and Aster are doing so well, I had to move them into little Jiffy pots already – sooner than I thought!
Yeah, very trivial things keep me entertained.
contentment is…
05/07/2008
a) unpacking Death (sans gaudy red bow)
b) unpacking my entire 12 novel Sandman collection (unearthed from different boxes, no less)
c) placing them onto our bookshelf in the study
d) sneaking downstairs to re-read them later tonight
Also unearthed – unread and forgotten about – signed copies of:
- Angels and Visitations
- The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish
Only vague memories of feeling like I just shipped something to SG to ship it back to the US remains. Good thing I didn’t get extra copies.
Awaiting release from cardboard purgatory:
- Anansi Boys
- Good Omens
- Smoke and Mirrors
I hope I didn’t leave them in SG.
transporting
03/07/2008
Traffic has been a little bit of a hassle lately. Our downtown route is pretty gridlocked at the times of the day when we need to be downtown.
So today we took the Muni. It’s like a lightrail that goes on streets, though our route is through the tunnels. The entire ride took about 15 minutes, and door to door it took us as long to get downtown by Muni than it does by car, though it was so much more relaxing. No crazy bikers hovering around you which is pretty much the scene on Market Street, no massive jam to get through just to go around the block because you can’t make a left turn, stuff like that. It only cost $1.50 one way.
The only annoying thing is having to put up with those damn Google Transit ads on the outside of the Munis. Dammit, can’t I get by one day without them sneaking in somehow?
Which is pretty much the summary for life according to me. Even when it’s good, you’ll always have to bear with something. And I’ve found that most of that something, is usually someone’s ego.
An old friend pointed me to this yesterday.
The best paraphrase in the list is: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – it’s a duck. And I realise, despite our best efforts, we really do have a knack for making things more complicated than they should be.
Call it “concern”, call it “looking out for you”, call it “education”, call it “tradition”, call it “symbolism”, call it “well-intentioned”. It looks like ego, it sounds like ego, it smells of ego – it’s ego. And since I clearly have my own to satisfy, I am having a hard time deciding the trade-off between the seemingly quick-and-easy go-through-the-motions-and-get-it-over-and-done-with, and the more labourious stop-it-in-its-tracks-be-difficult-and-make-a-f**king-stand.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
The internal debate in my head is unnerving and circular – but I’m convinced I’ve a balanced mind.
Stuff like -
Maybe if I try a little Feeling it will smooth things over vs WTF, it’s them f**king feelers that started it.
Just this once vs precedence.
It’s life, everyone’s involved vs it’s my life, now bugger the f**k out.
is surely evidence of that.
Blah blah blah. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter. It’s not earth-shattering. So maybe I should just coast life in neutral and go with whatever. Maybe then it’ll make sense.
And how we travelled to this topic from completely innocent findings about public transport, is proudly brought to you by Google. Are you feeling lucky, punk?
