The Finished Tenderloin

My September 22 blog entry discussed the end-of-summer and a final dinner party at the campground. Since David actually read that blog, he sent a photo of the finished, cooked, resting-for-a-few-minutes beef tenderloin.

Also, since I'm still sick, I don't want to spend much time sitting here at the computer. So here it is. It was really delicious.

Thanks again, David.

Knitting Retreat

[First of all, I really don't think I was contageous. I'd had this cold for more than a week, as of last Friday when the retreat began. And I tried to stay pretty much off to the side of the great room and away from the rest of the ladies. Except during meals when we all sat together. So if any of you come down with this cold, I am truly, truly sorry.]

A friend of my friend Betty, named Darcy, put together a wonder weekend. She found a lovely lodge north of Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, on the eastern shore of Pipe Lake. There were a couple bedrooms upstairs with room for four plus a bunk room downstairs with 3 double bunks. We could see Pipe Lake on two sides of the lodge. There was a large screened porch and a deck in back; a great room upstairs and another downstairs, both of which had large fireplaces. Those would be very nice in the winter.

And there was a large, well equipped kitchen. She got lots of yummy food from a caterer, in Lakeville I think; several lovely meals which she prepared for us. Her husband also fixed a few of the side dishes. Some of the women who attended also brought snacks and things to share. There was cake and pie and cookies, wine, water, soda, assorted breakfast and lunch foods.

In all there were 10 women, Betty, Ann, Ann, Marna, Darcy, Kate, Shauna, Lynn, me, and Pam (in no particular order). I knew some of them from elsewhere and met some of them for the first time at the retreat. All were very nice people, indeed. Knitters are like that; yeah, they are.


When we arrived, there was a lovely bouquet of roses waiting for us. The upstairs great room had many spotlights in the ceiling so we had more than enough light. It rained for most of the weekend, but we didn't mind. We were warm and dry and knitting.


We took a field trip to a local yarn shop and found several kinds and colors of yarns I'd never seen before. The lady who owns the shop opened specially for us. It's not the tourist season any longer. I think we made it worth her while to take a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon.

The bunks down stairs were quite comfortable. Rumor has it the upper bunks were somewhat difficult to get into.






Once or twice the sun came out.









More often it rained. But if you look carefully, you'll see the leaves turning orange across the lake.

Marna brought this jigsaw puzzle of yarn and knitting.

Everyone seemed to get a long well. There were no smokers (yes, I'm prejudiced against smoke--I grew up with a smoking mother and am very sensitive to it). Everyone pitched in at meal time and clean-up time. Those who knew more than the rest were quite willing to share that knowledge with us.

There's probably a lot more to say about this weekend. However, this cold is not responding to the sign-away-your-identity-pseudoephedrine I bought at a 24-hour Walgreens and I think I just need to try to go to bed and get some rest. I forgot to mention the thunder and lightening that kept me awake for quite some time in the middle of the night Saturday.

New Use for Post-it® Notes

I work in a really nice modern office building. The restrooms have auto-flush capability. Unfortunately, the stools work a bit more like a bad bidet. They splash water up on you but it's used water, if you know what I mean.

And every time I lean just a little bit to get some tissue, the splashing starts. It's gone off as many as 3 times before I was done! Yuck.

I was sitting back at my desk, catching my breath from all the startles I'd gotten (hearing aids make toilet flushing really loud). A glance toward the phone to see if I'd gotten any calls while I was gone showed this pack of Post-it Notes and I had one of those light-bulb moments.

Now when I leave for the restroom, I take a Post-it with me and stick it over the red eye at the back of the stool. Now it only flushes when I take away the Post-it...when I'm done and not before. Ahhhh.

Now I can sit in peace.

Tai Chi

Fall is officially here. The weekend after labor day, David hosted a lovely dinner party at the campground. There were two other couples with whom we hadn't socialized much over the years. It was fun to get to know them.

This is the meat he cooked on his grill. It is in the process of being seared here. I didn't get a photo of the finished meat. We were too busy eating and making "yummy" sounds.





Another harbinger of fall is Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong's annual visit to Chinatown Tai Chi Center. That's me in the upper left corner with my head cut off. The next photo is Grandmaster demonstrating Fair Lady Works the Shuttle on Jerry.





This is a photo of Grandmaster holding the snuff bottle I gave to him. He really liked it. He went into great detail telling how these bottles are painted on the inside with tiny little brushes that have a bend in them.
















I want to thank my "co-mother-in-law" for finding and acquiring this snuff bottle for me. She collects them and knows several good sources.

Tai Chi is something I really enjoy. I credit tai chi with keeping my joints moving. I'm developing osteoarthritis and have already gotten one shoulder joint replaced. I have full range of motion in that shoulder because of tai chi. When I can, I'll get the other replaced as well. And I know I'll attain full motion in that one, too.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Betty and I went to the Minnesota State Fair on Labor Day. Our second order of business, after eating breakfast, was to demonstrate lace making in the Creative Arts building. I had my mystery stole (almost half done) and the beginnings of a nice lace-top sock.







Betty brought her bobbin lace pillow to show a LOT of people how bobbin lace is made. She's incredibly good at helping people understand how it's done. Click on the photo to see her butterfly and not-quite-finished apple.

And a very nice lady named Lara, whose photo I neglected to take, demonstrated tatting. She does very nice work.




After 3 hours of demonstrating we went to the Hippodrome. Oh, I forgot, it's called the Coliseum now. Anyway the first show was Trailer Racing. There were 8 pickups with horse trailers behind them. The object is for the rider to run from the front of his pickup to the back while his partner carries the saddle. The rider takes his/her horse out of the trailer, takes off the halter, puts on the bridle, saddles the horse...

And rides as fast as possible around the arena twice. Then he/she stops behind his/her trailer, gets off, removes saddle and bridle, puts on the halter, stuffs the horse back into the trailer, and runs to the front of his/her pickup to stop the watch. Amazing. Fastest and shortest race I've ever seen.

It looked like the guy driving this tractor might have been a zamboni driver. His tee shirt had a Minnesota Wild logo on it. He was preparing the arena for the Royal Canadian Mounties.





You'll have to click on this one to see the Mounties--all in a row.

That was the only time they were easy to photograph. Look at the video below to see some of their action. It was most elegant to watch. Handsome men and women riding handsome black horses.

In the horse barn we visited with some of the mounties who were preparing their horses for shipping east by truck to their next state fair gig. I saw these black horses and just had to take their picture.





Actually, they are miniature horses. Aren't they cute?











Of course, a trip to the fair isn't complete without deep-fried cheese curds.







Betty's food from Famous Dave's almost looks healthy. Eeew.











We noticed two huge piles of uncut spuds near a French fry stand. It was late in the afternoon on the last day. I hope they had somewhere to use these potatoes.

All in all, it was a very good day. Kinda hot (I think it was over 90F) and fairly humid.

Take a peek at the videos. They're short. The second one shows them performing one of their more intricate routines. (Isn't Betty's laugh contageous?)

I feel better today

Rant on drivers and such is over. It's time to get back to important things...like MS3. I'm about to start row 243. I know, I know, I'm way behind, but I'm still having fun, and that's the point, right? I don't want to do the wings. I can't really picture them. So I'll probably start again on the other end from row 1 and Kirchner the pieces together. If you google Kirchner, there's a lovely video on how to do it.

If you haven't ready Stephanie's blog yet, you should. It is absolutely wonderful and is a good example of her writing. Her books are more grammatically correct, and just as much fun, as her blog. I try to check it every day.

I try not to get irritable, but . . .

While driving home this evening, about 8:45 p.m., I noticed two things that really, really irritate me.

1. Invisible people. People who are black, brown, red, anyone with a good, dark tan: please wear light colors when you're out walking or biking at night. It's just about impossible to see you in the dark. If I hit you, it ends up being my fault. But you must understand that your dark skin, paired with dark clothing, doesn't reflect my headlights very well. And even white folks wearing dark clothing are hard to see.
   
   
2. Don't turn left to turn right. And vice versa. When large trucks like semis go around a corner, it's important for the front end to pull wide so the rear tires don't hit the curb. Those rear wheels track inside the front ones.
   
   People! You're driving CARS. Very few cars have the same problem large trucks have (notice I said large trucks--NOT pickups). The rear tires of cars don't track more than an inch or two inside the path of the front wheels.
   
   This is very, very important:
   DO NOT pull to the right to turn left.
   DO NOT pull to the left to turn right.
   
   Most cars that do this end up leaving their own lane, crossing the lines clearly painted on the roadway. Do you really think everyone can just jump out of your way when you do this?

Foggy Morning in August and Hearing Aids

We haven't gotten much fog in the last few years. Don't know why. Too dry, maybe. Well, lately we've gotten more than enough rain, at least in some parts of the state, to make up for the drought. Lawns are looking much greener. Pastures, too. Too late for corn, however.

The southern part of the state, if you watch the news, has gotten so much rain they been flood out in areas that normally never flood. It's a real shame. Several people died.

Anyway, I like the fog. I remember many trips to the University of Illinois when I was dating my first husband, Steve, when it would be so foggy you could hardly see to drive. Walking in the fog felt cozy and closed in. It's hard to explain. But I liked it.

On another topic...after 3 tune-ups with the hearing aid guy, Jim, I'm starting to get the hang of hearing things again. I didn't realize how poor my hearing was until I got these things.

There are still some kinks to work out. One that has gotten better (but not great yet) is hearing trumpets and flutes in music. My hearing aids think they are hearing feedback and try to mask the sound. As a result, they play along with the music, but not in tune. It is most annoying.

The auto-program is working better now that the sensitivity has been turned down. Also, he made the transition more gradual between the "regular" and "party noise" modes so it's not so shockingly abrupt. Granted, I paid about $150 more for these than my 1996 Saturn 2 years ago. So they ought to work well.

The technician (I think that's what you'd call him), Jim, is a really nice guy. For one thing, he drives a Gold Wing motorcycle. Can't be all bad, huh? And he attends a church not unlike Eagle Brook.

Now if I can just convince the people who are used to SHOUTING around me to pipe down, I'll be happy.

Twins Game - Indoors out of the Rain!

Here we are at the Dome. Free tickets (because I own a Saturn). Translate "Cheap Seats." That's what it said on the tickets, honest!









I climbed up a few steps to get a better photo of Ben, the one in front, Betty, hidden behind him, and James, on the right with the mustache, pretending to be fascinated by a game play.









This fellow's name is Doug. He sat in front of us and pretended to be "protecting" my jacket, purse, and knitting bag, which were in the chair directly in front of me.










Here's a better shot of Doug, ripping the bun off his hot dog. At first I thought he must be a health nut. He was all muscles. Then I realized those weren't muscles. Those were his brains. Later on he was poking tobakee into his lip and spitting into a not-quite-empty beer glass. Yuck.

That's me up and to the right behind him. The one with the silly grin. Betty is in the red shirt and knitting.



I took my right mitten to the game. I finished the left mitten which I worked on at the last game I attended.







Here's Betty's knitting. I think it's a mitten but it looks kinda skinny.








Betty finished her American flag sox. Aren't they cool?! The yarn created the pattern and looks a lot like stars and stripes.










I didn't knit a whole lot because of tennis elbow which I get from working on a computer all day. Oh, and because the beer would have messed up my knitting.






This fellow has a mega professional-looking camera and was taking videos of a little girl. I don't know if it was some sort of make-a-wish thing or not. I didn't ask. But he was nice enough, while blocking some of my view of the field, to let me take his picture.


And this is Betty and James. James is a friend of Ben's. Nice fellow.
The Twins lost 2-7 to the Seattle Mariners. I've never had the opportunity to watch them actually win a game.

More on the Bridge

David and I attended the taping of an MPR broadcast, scheduled for Friday, August 17, noon, this evening. There was a seemingly arbitrary choice of "panelists" which included Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak, an economist, some sort of political "expert" from the University of Minnesota, and a few other people whose names all escape me. I'm not usually politically overt. I listen quietly, hope I don't get too riled up, and hope for the best.

Well, the best didn't happen last week when the bridge fell down. One of the questions for the evening was what does the public expect from our infrastructure?

The only consensus seemed to be that we should be able to drive across a bridge and not have it fall down.

Then there were arguments about whether we should be pouring money into rapid transit or maintenance of the roadways we currently have. Not: can we pay for both!

One panelist stated there was more than enough money if only someone would spend it to keep drivers safe from falling bridges. One panelist said there isn't enough money to do that. Mayor Rybak said there wasn't enough money to build roads to everyone's home. Another panelist said that, in fact, there has always been enough money for that because roads do, indeed, lead to everyone's home.

Show me where someone lives they can't get to or from via a roadway!

One question was what were we willing to give up for safety. I really don't believe this question was answered adequately by anyone there. I'm guilty of not raising my hand.

I'm willing not to go to the new Twins stadium that I'm already paying for. Why should I pay for a Twins stadium? Why should I have to pay for any sports stadium? I don't enjoy sports. The only times (twice since I moved here in 1972) I've actually attended a Twins game was for a "Stitch and Pitch" where a group of people get tickets through a local yarn shop like Three Kittens in St. Paul. We sat in the stands and mostly ignored the ball game and conversed with our fellow knitters (see my blog for July 22, 2007) and knitted on our various projects: socks, sweaters, shawls, etc.

And the other time I've gone to a Twins game (also twice) was with free tickets from Saturn. My dad always said, "For free take; for buy waste time." And my girl friend and I sat and knitted and chatted and ignored the game. (BTW, every game I've been to, all four, the Twins lost.)

Anyway, back to what I'd be willing to give up for safety. If I were assured that my tax dollars would actually go to fixing already existing bridges and roadways, I'd be willing to report my mileage each year when I purchase my license tabs and pay a tax on those miles. I drive 19 miles each way to and from work and also drive a few more to go to tai chi school (where I'm a student and instructor). I drive a lot of miles and if my cost would pay for the roads I use, so be it.

I'd also be willing to pay, if not per mile, per pound of car. David's SUV would pay for more road than my little 1996 Saturn. His Rav4 is very nice and has proven very useful in the work he does and in his personal life. But I have to think it wears on the roadways more than my little Saturn.

I'd also be willing to pay a toll to use our roadways. Rybak and company used a phrase something like "distance pricing." That's a euphemism if I ever heard one. It's a freeking TOLL, Mayor Rybak!

I grew up in the Chicago area. There are toll roads there. As far as I know, these roads are not paid for by tax dollars but by the people who use them. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.) You drive on it. You pay for the privilege. Simple solution.

One question asked was "are you afraid to drive over bridges now?" Yes, some of them. Terri Gruca has an article on wcco.com about 8 bridges in Minnesota with bad safety ratings as bad or worse than the 35W bridge that has killed 13 and injured over 100 people. After reading this one article, I'm no longer willing to drive on the Lafayette Bridge. I'm sort of willing to drive across the bridge on Hwy. 61 in Hastings and the Stillwater bridge, but only on a motorcycle. (Granted, if either bridge came down with me on it, it would be because of the cars/trucks. David's motorcycle does not guarantee we'd be safe. Just a teeny bit safer.)

The question really is this:

Would the money actually be spent in a way that would make us safer? I fear the money would be taken in and then spent foolishly.

Time will tell. . . time will tell.

It's not supposed to happen here...

I live in a Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb. I was driving home after my martial arts class last night when a co-worker called to ask if I drive over the 35W Mississippi River bridge to get home. I said no and she said "thank God." I asked why and she told me about the bridge collapsing.

These things are not supposed to happen in "my backyard." Maybe in San Francisco where they have earthquakes. Maybe in Texas or Florida where they have hurricanes. We have tornadoes but usually there's enough warning to go hide. But it did happen here. I won't speculate on why the bridge went down. I'm not any more qualified than the experts who are themselves not ready to speculate.

My first reaction was...well...I sort of froze. I was driving at the time so I had to keep doing that. But my emotions didn't know which way to go. Anger that it could happen? Well, my anger wouldn't do anything about it. There were/are people under those bridge parts.

Right now, there's only one thing I can do. And that is pray. I pray for comfort for the injured. Comfort for the families of those who are known to have perished. Comfort for those who don't know yet if their loved ones have died or are just somewhere else, safe and sound.

I also pray for courage and safety for the people who are trying to get the bodies out of the water. I pray for their protection from the swirling waters and unstable bridge parts and rebar that could really hurt them.

I thank God for the people who were willing to risk their own lives last night and help others escape from their vehicles and get them to dry land. There were many heroes at the scene.

And I thank God my son and, so far as I know right now, my friends are all safe.

Huh?

For several years now I've had trouble hearing. I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Twenty years ago I was told there wasn't much to be done about it. The ringing would always be there. Now, in the age of digital hearing devices, hearing help can be had for enough money.

While Googling around the web, I found Hearing Planet. I got in touch with them and Gina, from somewhere in Tennessee put me in touch with Jim at Alliance Hearing in Roseville. (I want this to be a surprise, so don't tell David. I feel safe putting this in my blog because I'm pretty sure he rarely reads it. If he does, oh well.)

For just about what I paid for my 1996 Saturn a couple years ago, I'm GOING TO BE ABLE TO HEAR AGAIN!!! No more asking people to take their hands away from their faces. No more asking them to turn around and look at me so I can see their mouths move. No more TV AT FULL VOLUME. (Was that too loud?)

I put one in my ear (no battery) just to feel it. I will have to be careful to remember they're there so I don't go swimming with them. Bad idea to get them wet. But, for the first year or two (can't remember which), they are covered for water damage: shower, rain, whatever. It comes in colors but I think dull, boring, skin color would be best.

Jim said I could probably get them in by next Tuesday or Thursday. That means I'd have them when we go see Spamalot. I won't miss any words!

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

Shhh. Don't tell David. It's a surprise.

Aaaahhhh . . . Summer!

Fresh sweet corn, melted butter, a little salt. Fresh tomatoes cut in wedges and served at room temperature. Bing cherries for dessert. A lovely ending to a lovely weekend.

I'm finally on Clue #3 of the MS3 (see earlier posting). Some rows go really easily; some have to be tinked and reknit two or three times. But I just finished row 162. There's hope.

Isabel

This is Isabel. She lives in Mozambique. That's southern Africa on the east side. She turned 10 years old on my birthday (last spring).

Last fall my church, Eagle Brook Church, joined with World Vision to support Mozambique. Wells will be dug, cow dips (like sheep dips but much bigger) will be built, schools will be funded, teachers taught, homes built, medicines supplied, trades taught.

In February, six of our members traveled to Mozambique to tour the area we have been assigned. Unfortunately, there was a hurricane bearing down on that area of the country and our people were not allowed to go there. As an alternative, they went to an area of Mozambique where World Vision has been working to help people for the last several years.

In March our travelers brought back photos, videos, and stories of the people of Mozambique. We just don't know how good we have it here in America. As Isabel wrote in her first letter to me, "My house is made of sticks. My roof is made of grass." I'm sitting in my apartment on the third floor of a lovely brick building with a garage for my car underneath, writing on a desktop computer, looking at an LCD screen, creating my blog over a broadband connection.

Her house is made of sticks. Her roof is made of grass. "I'm willing to become a teacher."

Over the next couple of weeks, about 1500 children were sponsored by Eagle Brookers, as we like to call ourselves. The number may be even bigger by now. I haven't checked recently. Thanks for reading this entry. If you're interested in helping one small child learn and grow and acquire a way to make a living, click on World Vision to see what $35 a month can do.

Hey, Knitter Knitter!

Three Kittens Yarn Shoppe hosted a Stitch 'n' Pitch again this year. It was great fun. Well, the Minnesota Twins lost to the A's but it was a fun time anyway.




Mitten Goes to the Game









Lady in Front








Lisa R.











Steven of the Yarn Garage.













Lady Behind









Lady to my Left









The 3 of Us








Oh, Yeah...the Game









Felting Project










Betty's Sock. Thanks to her for getting us to the game and for letting me borrow my camera, since I forgot to bring mine.

Well, back to the Mystery Stole, #3. I'm nearly done with Clue 2!