P.S.

Springy!



I call this Still Life #47: Buttload of Loops.


Said Loops with Hoops.

Exciting Potholder Developments

First, here is my high school friend Dara and her handsome son, Trent, modeling black and red attire to complement their new Dundee Cardunal* potholder. I liked it so much, I made one for myself.



Black and red were our school colors, so Dara got this bonus bit of fiber art with her cookbook. I'm thinking maybe a Perky Potholder should accompany every cookbook order (Addi's idea really) while supplies last...void where prohibited. Especially since I just ordered a buttload of new potholder loops with some Easter egg money.

*Car-Dun-Al = Carpentersville, Dundee, Algonquin...I think I was in college before I realized how the rest of the world spelled cardinal. Of course, I also thought Hawaii and Alaska were both off the coast of Florida, since that's where they were always depicted on the big classroom maps. It's an honest mistake!

The other exciting development is this new breed of hybrid potholder, which is woven from one loooong piece of flat wool-blend yarn-like stuff on one of my vintage metal looms. The only drawback is, like hybrid cars, these are expensive to make. I can only get 1.5 potholders out of one ball-o-stuff. So there's some careful splicing required and, well, like I said, the materials cost is a bitch. We've got R&D working on it though. In the meantime, Hoops will continue to ruin any attempts I make at documentation by wandering through my photos at inopportune moments.



That's a little better. Lenore gave me FOUR new skeins in my Easter basket. Sweet!


And then, I made this one. Plus three others that I haven't photographed yet. Film at 11.

Random Easter Activity

We celebrated good Friday with style by going out to Rosie O'Hare's for a fish fry with my neighbors Tim and Lucy. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera to document the outing, but I'm pleased to report the meal was most excellent. Rosie's, which has been slowly transitioning from a biker bar to something a bit more upscale, just recently started serving real (as opposed to bar) food. It's a short distance down the street and around the corner, right on the river, so we had a nice window view of the raging Fox while we ate what I hope didn't come out of those waters. Our waitress was very patient as we debated the various potato options (too many choices!). We'll definitely go there again, especially when the weather is nice and we can eat outside with all the spiders and confused Harley riders.

Here's Tim flanked by his iPod speakers. We're going to crank them UP (to 11) as retaliation if Rosie's annual outdoor party gets out of hand like it did last year. Opera anyone?



And this is their new cat, Tora! She's very sweet and appreciated the ping pong ball Hoops sent over by way of welcome.



In other epicurean activity, I made a veritable United Nations of bread in the form of a lovely Latvian sourdough rye, which was shipped off to Baltimore for a certain someone's birthday, and two loaves of Irish soda bread (recipe found in the Pseudo Gourmet, do you have a copy?). One of the soda bread loaves (is it still a loaf if it's round?) provided a bonus face for the face blog. Sweet!





We also put some Peeps to good use.



This is apple bread pudding ordered special from the Measuring Cup for dessert on Sunday. We walked over to Walgreens for jelly beans, but they were totally sold out, so we had to settle for peanut M&Ms and a consolation Starbucks coffee (not pictured).

Here are our Easter eggs! Lenore said she got gypped, because while she was getting fancy and carefully creating two- and three-color eggs, I was in hyper-drive mode and had most of the eggs colored before she could blink. Oops. Luckily there were backup eggs.

Republican Sweep!

Unfortunately, I ran as a democrat. D'oh!

Turnout in dem precincts was a dismal 14%. I think next time I'll run as a Klingon, I'd have a better chance. What am I saying though? Running for office is almost as fun as banging one's head against a dead tree. Only it's more expensive.

I probably won't miss the meetings. Right now I'm just disappointed and kind of mad that 18 years of public service and fighting for the environment was so unceremoniously supplanted by party politics. However, the woman who replaces me is also an environmentalist and an educator, so I think she'll be a great addition to the board and continue to support Open Space.

And of course, now I have more time to make potholders, so there's that.

Speaking of which, behold the potholder collage created by a fellow Rockford College alum and master of the Addiverse. (Click on the collage to see the lifelike detail!)



I made her a Rockford College (purple and yellow) potholder to go with her newly acquired copy of the Pseudo Gourmet, and it appears it's been a life-changing experience. Not that one would expect anything different. Potholder #2 (also pictured) is for her (undoubtedly very patient) partner, known as "the wife," who, I might add, warmed the bench with me from time to time during our freshmen season on the college volleyball team. Boy did that suck. (The benchwarming, not the company.) We both went from starters in high school to scrubs (though she saw more game time than I ever did), so that was a rather rude awakening. As the shortest, youngest and spaciest member of the team, I always seemed to end up with the effing clipboard, which meant I was supposed to "keep stats" during the game. Yeah, whatever. I gotcher stats right here. Let's just say that record keeping took a serious dive in accuracy during the '82 season. I did some of my best doodling though. Masterful even. But I digress. Thanks for the stellar potholder documentation, Addi! I'm thinking future cookbook orders might all include a bonus potholder...while supplies last...void where prohibited...some restrictions may apply...objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

In other PP news, I have exciting developments to report! Stay tuned for the new Perky Potholder hybrid! Also more faces for the face blog. Who's got time for politics?!

Put on a Happy Face

Lenore was out doing her part for my campaign today. She moved a sign over near a polling place, and then tied on this addition to make sure people noticed it. We both like the second one because the balloon seems like it's having such a good time.

Food, Glorious...Hey! This is Raw!

Just kidding. Lenore, Roland, Amy and I went out for sushi at our favorite joint to celebrate birthdays, so of course it had to be documented. I tend to not eat the actual raw genre of menu items, at least not knowingly. I suppose it's odd, but I like to document food when celebrating or traveling, and sushi is particularly photogenic. So without further ado...

Here is Roland's appetizer, Ika Maruyki, otherwise known as broiled squid.


I had my favorite (so far), Dragon Black, which is BBQ eel and who knows what else...I think there are scallops involved too.


This is Roland's Sakura (not to be confused with Shakira) with a side of 2 shrimp tempura sushi bombs (basically a sushi roll turned into a little rice cup -- they're awesome). I don't remember what was in this, other than the stuff on top had a hearty kick to it. Roland, if you remember, let us know in the comments.


Amy had Pink Panther, which seemed to involve smoked salmon and cream cheese and had a delightful texture.


Lenore had a custom chicken and vegetable teriyaki dish that got eaten before it could be photographed. I also had a maki roll with pumpkin in it (?!), which was delicious. For those who are local, the name of the restaurant is Kaminari, and it's in Lake in the Hills. Highly recommended!

And this concludes our epicurean adventure for now, thank you.

One (Hopefully) Last Snowfall

Much as I disliked the prospect of snow this late in the game, the 5" or so we got was very pretty, and since it came on Sunday, we were able to enjoy both walking in it and looking at it. Lenore's power was out for 5 hours, so we took a walk through Library Springs and also a short jaunt at Raceway Woods, except we couldn't find the right trail at Raceway, so we didn't get too far. (Click on photos to enlarge.)




This is just a stump, but it looked like a glowering eagle to me. Or maybe it was the snowflakes on my glasses.


Can you see Lenore?


Also, here is my windmill. I love my windmill.