The Unexpected
This past week has just been full up with a series of unexpected events.
First our neighbor found an unexpected and beautiful visitor sheltering under the front porch railing. Each year, we have monarch butterflies migrate through our area. We alway leave some milkweed growing on the side of the house to feed any monarch caterpillars that might happen by. Apparently, that succeeded and we now have a monarch crysalis that we have been watching. (Yes, I needed help spelling "crysalis" -- apparently only one "l".) What you can't see in the picture is the gold, honest to goodness shine just like precious metal, gold that rings the top of the crysallis. When the morning sun hits it, it actually sparkles like it was adorned with a crown.
Next we painted the upstairs bathroom. It was unexpectedly, saturated, deep aqua. Actually the color was "calypso". Very calypso, indeed.
(Erin and Megan did an excellent job painting -- that wasn't unexpected.
Next I had some yarn turn out unexpectedly well. It's the wool/silk blend I started spinning last week and I love the way the jewel tones play off of each other when plied together:
I ended up with about 245 yds which is plenty for more mittens, a hat or a short scarf/neck wrap. We'll have to see what mood strikes me when I pick this yarn up again.
OK, the next thing was extremely unexpected and very nearly gross.
Now yogurt isn't my most favorite food in the whole world but it serves a purpose of being a filling, nutritious snack. And since it's not my favorite, I'm always on a quest to try new varieties to see if I can find one that I really like. So I picked up a new store brand which I was enjoying more than the average cup -- Nice texture, very tasty. I was looking at this
And turned it around to see the ingredients and saw this:
Did you see that????!!! It says "Contains Fish. Sardine. Anchovy, Tilapia". Gack! And gack, not one kind of fish, but three! I don't mind fish in my fish but in my yogurt. Um, gack again! There's a reason no one runs TV ads that say "Try our yogurt. Now with FISH!" OK, I know that it's in there because fish oil is supposed to be good for you but, boy, that is not appetizing.
The last unexpected event of the week, began as a comment to my DH at church last week. I've spun on a drop spindle for years and totally enjoy it. I had occasionally considered trying a spinning wheel but that thought never went beyond musing about it until the class list came out for the Finger Lakes Fiber Fest. They are offering a beginning spinning class with the opportunity to borrow a wheel -- I signed up for it just to give it a try. I figured it would be a one off experience. Then a woman who I know to be a knitter, mentioned to my DH that she is also a spinner and had a wheel that she was interested in selling. I sent her an email and she was incredibly generous and brought the wheel over, gave me a lesson, entertained my 3 year old, brought practice fiber and made my week! (If you're out there Meg, Thank you!!) She also lent me the wheel to practice on to see if I like it. (Um, yup, I like it!) Here it is:
Three year old included for scale (and because he really wanted to in the picture). What fun! I'm slowly getting the hang of it -- needless to say it quite a bit faster than my drop spindle. Did I mention, what fun! Opens a whole new world in my fiber related hobby. I love learning new things and here the opportunity pretty much dropped right in my lap. Cool! Very cool!
First our neighbor found an unexpected and beautiful visitor sheltering under the front porch railing. Each year, we have monarch butterflies migrate through our area. We alway leave some milkweed growing on the side of the house to feed any monarch caterpillars that might happen by. Apparently, that succeeded and we now have a monarch crysalis that we have been watching. (Yes, I needed help spelling "crysalis" -- apparently only one "l".) What you can't see in the picture is the gold, honest to goodness shine just like precious metal, gold that rings the top of the crysallis. When the morning sun hits it, it actually sparkles like it was adorned with a crown.
Next we painted the upstairs bathroom. It was unexpectedly, saturated, deep aqua. Actually the color was "calypso". Very calypso, indeed.
(Erin and Megan did an excellent job painting -- that wasn't unexpected.
Next I had some yarn turn out unexpectedly well. It's the wool/silk blend I started spinning last week and I love the way the jewel tones play off of each other when plied together:
I ended up with about 245 yds which is plenty for more mittens, a hat or a short scarf/neck wrap. We'll have to see what mood strikes me when I pick this yarn up again.
OK, the next thing was extremely unexpected and very nearly gross.
Now yogurt isn't my most favorite food in the whole world but it serves a purpose of being a filling, nutritious snack. And since it's not my favorite, I'm always on a quest to try new varieties to see if I can find one that I really like. So I picked up a new store brand which I was enjoying more than the average cup -- Nice texture, very tasty. I was looking at this
And turned it around to see the ingredients and saw this:
Did you see that????!!! It says "Contains Fish. Sardine. Anchovy, Tilapia". Gack! And gack, not one kind of fish, but three! I don't mind fish in my fish but in my yogurt. Um, gack again! There's a reason no one runs TV ads that say "Try our yogurt. Now with FISH!" OK, I know that it's in there because fish oil is supposed to be good for you but, boy, that is not appetizing.
The last unexpected event of the week, began as a comment to my DH at church last week. I've spun on a drop spindle for years and totally enjoy it. I had occasionally considered trying a spinning wheel but that thought never went beyond musing about it until the class list came out for the Finger Lakes Fiber Fest. They are offering a beginning spinning class with the opportunity to borrow a wheel -- I signed up for it just to give it a try. I figured it would be a one off experience. Then a woman who I know to be a knitter, mentioned to my DH that she is also a spinner and had a wheel that she was interested in selling. I sent her an email and she was incredibly generous and brought the wheel over, gave me a lesson, entertained my 3 year old, brought practice fiber and made my week! (If you're out there Meg, Thank you!!) She also lent me the wheel to practice on to see if I like it. (Um, yup, I like it!) Here it is:
Three year old included for scale (and because he really wanted to in the picture). What fun! I'm slowly getting the hang of it -- needless to say it quite a bit faster than my drop spindle. Did I mention, what fun! Opens a whole new world in my fiber related hobby. I love learning new things and here the opportunity pretty much dropped right in my lap. Cool! Very cool!
I can't wait for other dairy products that may include beneficial fish oil such as:
Nutty Buddy Bars with Sardines
Who wants a nice frothy Herring Latte?
I Can't Believe It's Not Mackerel!
GACK!GACK!
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I would eat "I Can't Believe It's Not Mackerel."
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You two made me laugh out loud this morning. So, does "I Can't Believe It's Not Mackerel" actually taste like mackerel? And, if it is not mackerel, what does it taste like?
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