Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving dear readers!!

I was planning to post last weekend but I spent all of Saturday in the ER and was pooped on Sunday.  No it wasn't me or EVEN my brother, but my poor housemate Monica who broke her arm while running.  She's a real trooper though, and went to work all this week and is doing fine, just a fracture on her distal radius.

 But of course it's Thanksgiving today so I have to post a little something about what I'm thankful for. It's been a pretty awesome year (The Year of Me, if you recall).  Had a great month off in the Spring, found a job, met lots of new friends at Kew and old friends, and of course I still get to live with my boyfriend and brother AT THE SAME TIME.  And we also all took today and tomorrow off so that it's like a REAL Thanksgiving for us, for the first time in a while (I just took a half day last year and no time off the year before).

 I'm also thankful that this year I was able to get my Tofurkey for Thanksgiving dinner with a minimum of fuss (There is Patrick above carving it with the traditional Tofurkey Bread Knife).  I ended up going to Whole Foods and getting two (one for Christmas) only after going to the local whole foods store at Kew and finding they didn't have it in their order book though they emailed me and told me they had!!

Anyway we had Tofurkey roast with vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, carrots and onion with a soy and orange glaze), giblet gravy, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, fresh home-made whole wheat rolls and vegan pumpkin pie for dessert.  Yum!  Nice and small for just the three of us (though Cat and Jeff joined us on the computer you can see there) and still managed to stay within my P90X requirements - just.

Tomorrow I have a full day planned to spend time with friends, visiting the Natural History Museum for lunch, seeing the Hollywood costume exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum and going to a concert there in the evening.

Right now I'm hanging out with Chris and listening to Alice's Restaurant as is my Thanksgiving Tradition.

Hope you all are enjoying the day, whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not!

Still kicking it old school, really old, like 1776

Hello Dear Readers,

I'm still here, still kicking.  Two weeks ago I was working really hard for a job interview (didn't get it, oh well) and then came down with a chest cold (I blame my housemate with the chest infection) and I've been working P90X pretty hard (but lost almost 10 lbs and a bra size, pictures of day 30 need to be taken soon).  I was still thinking about all the stuff I wanted to blog and share with you, so here it is.

First up, you will remember that my brother used to have the computer game maker  Ubisoft as a client, and they provided him with the game Assasin's Creed.  When I first moved to the UK and wasn't working I started playing and was totally hooked.  On the 31st of October the latest installment (Set in Revolutionary War Boston - check out the trailer) came out and because Ubisoft knows how crazy I am about the game (not because they like my brother), they gave ME the deluxe pack, complete with figurine and special edition metal case (not even available in the US!!) and George Washington's diary!  Because in this one, as my brother says, you get to be homes with G. Dub.  Awesome.

 How cool is that?  I've been playing the game a tiny bit, but as I said it's been a pretty crazy week.  Even Wednesday when I was too ill to go to work, I was too weak and tired to be able to hold the controller....In the game the date you start is 31 October 2012 and there is something big that is supposed to happen on the 21st of December, so I'm going to try to play the whole game by then, we'll see.

I've also been doing a bit of knitting to get ready for Christmas.  The people who are going to get these I'm pretty sure aren't blog readers (some of them can't even read, but they are 2 years old so it isn't a problem yet), so it's ok to flash it here.

 I'm pretty happy with this cuff made from wool instead of the usual embroidery floss, even Chris approves and he's usually quite the art critic.  I got the idea and instructions from the Purl Soho blog.

Beautiful grey merino and blue silk/cashmere blend.  That's a hard one to gift away!  I've also got some knitting commission from The Sewing Rooms (worked there all day yesterday) which should keep me busy for a bit.

I guess not that much did happen in two weeks, though sometimes it seems really long.  Today I am heading up to South Kensington on my bike, it is a gorgeous day so far, sunny and no clouds.  I'm going to meet up with my friend Aurelie from the Natural History Museum and go to Whole Foods to get a Tofurkey in time for Thanksgiving.  This year I'm taking BOTH days off, woo hooo!  So any of you State-side want to give me a Skype on the day I'll be here, basting a Tofurky in low-sodium non fat soy sauce - yummy - and listening to Alice's Restaurant and NPR all day long. And, you know, playing a little Assasin's Creed - it is very patriotic being set in the revolution and all.

Cheers!

Are those reindeer playing leapfrog?

Hello dear readers,

I have about three projects on the go, as per usual, but when the weather turns wet cold and fallish, I'm often inspiried to cast on a few quickies.  Fortunately Patrick and Chris both asked me for some knitted items which is fairly usual so I pounced. Patrick originally wanted an over the top ugly Christmas sweater, but I told him he'd have to get the wool and it's a bit pricy.  I also pointed out a pattern to him which I thought would be better than ugly Christmas. So this weekend I pulled out some of the lovely bluejeans yarn I got at Kerry Woolen Mills and some white Cornwall wool from my friend Toad's destashing and produced this gem:

Look closely, no those Reindeer aren't playing leap frog.....  I have one on the front and one on the back so that when he rows in next weekend's race everyone can see them.  Fun!

I'm also making some slippers for Chris out of the same yarn from this pattern for those that have Ravelry.  He's very fussy so I hope he likes them, I'll keep you posted.  Felting is a bit of a dark art so they could turn out to be any size......

And yes, we've just completed week 2 of P90X.  Don't want to jinx it, but I'm down 7 lbs from the end of September.......

So much excitment I can hardly stand(it)

Hello Dear Readers,

Well well well, life is certainly like a box of chocolates.  Except not for me and Chris, because you know we are still committed to P90X and not eating sweets. I think a lot of people here think we should be comittted soemwhere else, but we'll have the last laugh when we look like supermodels.  Ahem.  ANyway, very eventful week in the Lindon in London household. 

Wednesday while at work (around 10 am) I got some garbled messages on Gchat from Chris, about how Patrick ate some shellfish the night before, was throwing up and had a sore throat.  Warning bells went off in my head, as shellfish allergies are very common, so I was trying to contact Patrick to make sure he was all right, direct him to the ER and meet him there ASAP.  It turned out he was on a train to Charing Cross, which was easy for me to get to, except that he wasn't on a London train to Charing Cross, but coming from Folkstone, way out south and east in Kent, and was in the middle of nowhere.  The conversation on Gmail went something like this (I may be exaggerating slightly for storytelling effect, but only slightly)

Patrick: Sore throat, throwing up, had seafood.  Might go to ER, might try to get to London.
Me: Where are you
Patrick: On a train comign into Ashford
Me: GET OF THE TRAIN NOW YOU FOOL, YOU FOOL.  What if you go into shock and stop breathing between stations? no one can do anything for you!  GET OFF THE TRAIN NOW AND GO TO THE ER!  I'll look up hospitals for you! There is one there, get a cab to it as it's far from the station.
Patrick: Yeah, I don't feel so well, maybe I should get off the train........
.....Long Pause.....
Patrick: Ok in the cab to hospital
.......Pause......
What is our doctor's name again? Need it ASAP
......Pause of 3 hours in which I'm sure he's gone into Anaphalactic shock and died and no one will know how to contact his family, or he's died of waiting in the ER due to NHS cutbacks, or it's nothing and he forgot to tell me and is in London by now.

Fortunately he texted me around 4 to say he was ok now, on the train home and he didn't need me to come get him.  Well he didn't say all that but that's how it turned out.  Apparently he does have a shellfish allergy (See? I was right to jump to the worst conclusion! I knew the signs!) and they had to Epi pin him twice when his resting heart rate (normally around 41) went to 140 in a matter of 15 minutes.  Phew.  So he came home and I stayed home to take care of him in his weakened state, and even watched Ghostbusters with him, thanking my lucky stars that he had the good sense to call his sister and then listen to her when he wasn't feeling well, otherwise I would have spent the evening very differently. 

Here he is eating the nice healthy recovery dinner I made for him, complete with Tim Tam for dessert.  Aww, poor little fellow.  Sigh. I do wish baby brothers weren't so much trouble!!


Something Patrick would never do for me is take me on a long cycle, but when I heard a friend was cycling to Brighton this weekend I jumped at the chance, not least because I was assured it wasn't a group of serious cyclists and I wouldn't be left behind.

Well we took this route (approximately) intending to leave at 9:45.  By 11:00 we set off, two of our members were told it would take 30 min to cycle to the starting point (it took 60) and one of them had the chain fall off their bike.  Not even out of London (in Tooting) another member sprang a leak on their tire, had to replace it, and eventually we had to cycle to the nearest bike shop so he could buy a new tire (the old one had a bulge at the rim).

 The driver of the bus you see behind you insisted on coming over to help us, apparently he is a avid cyclist and prides himself on changing tires very quickly.

  Finally, we set off in earnest, climbing one of the first hills of the trip.  I made it cycling all the way, but another girl had a 60 year old bike that would only go into 3rd and 4th gear, and not between them very well either, though she is so hard core she managed to mostly keep up with the rest of us just the same.  Slowly we wound our way south, meeting up with a lot of hills along the way (Chipstead road did me in at the Church, mostly because I forgot that I had front gears as well) and stopping off at the Dog and Duck for lunch and our first pee break (baked Potato with Beans for me).  It was already 4 and we were just under halfway......

  We passed Wakehurst Place (part of Kew gardens, I'm hoping to convince Patrick to cycle out there with me sometime) and up the infamous Turner Hill (made it up that one all the way, thanks to my front gears, and singing Gangnam Style to myself).  All this time we knew we would have to climb the infamous Beacon hill, but I wasn't looking at the map so I coudln't know what kind of progress we were making, how much longer it would take, or how I would fare.  Unfortunately in Ardingly my front gear stopped shifting, so I was stuck in the middle set, ok for going up hills, but that's about it.  It started to get dark (we had lights) and we kept pushing on through dark windy country roads until at last we could see in the dying rays of the sun, the hulking mass of Beacon Hill.

Well I was determined to get up that thing, and started out ok, doggedly pushing one leg then the other, able to navigate only by my lights and the reflective line in the center of the road.  On the one hand the pitch blackness meant that psychologically I couldn't see ahead of me, so I just kept pushing on.  On the other hand it was completly dark, and I was by myself (one cycling buddy had sped ahead to meet us at the top, the other two were lagging beghind, the last pushing her bike from the very start).  I kept going, singing all the songs I knew, telling myself that I WOULD tell Patrick I didn't have to push my bike. 

Finally there was a bit of a plateau, and a clearing where I could see the twinkling lights of West Sussex below (far, far below), and I thought I was nearly there, even with one gear out of commission.  Then a car went by and I saw how much more there was.  I caved. I walked the rest of the way, in the total dark and silence.  The total empty darkness, quiet, and contemplative silence only defeat could bring, as I trudged up and up and up, sure the hill would never end and I would spend all my days, like Sisyphus, pushing this old heavy hybrid bike, alone, up the hill.

Well of course it did end, and my friend Malcom told me that he had done it in 12 minutes, and that he had been waiting about 7 minutes for me. So I hadn't been walking for 30 minutes like I thought, but probably only 5, and I had made it nearly 1/2 or 3/4 of the way up, no way to know for sure.  But I did it.  And I'm DAMN proud of myself, it's my new benchmark for acheivemnt.  I did Beacon Hill, alone, in the dark, with half my gears gone.  I can do anything!

We did get to Brighton eventually, though we didn't touch the sea as we had planned, too tired out and hungry (it was 8 pm) so we sat at The Railway Bell pub next to the station, drinking and recovering until 11 when we caught the train home. 

Much to my dismay, I found out that trains don't run from Clapham Junction ot Putney that late at night, so I had to cycle the 2 miles back to Putney when I got there at 12:30 am.  Much to my pleasent surprise, It hardly took me any time, and I even enjoyed it and managed to carry my bike up the stairs at the end of the night.

So that's my tale of my first ill planned and ill executed cycle to Brighton.  But I did do it, and now, I can do anything.  I just need to summon up the energy for my P90X Kenpo workout this afternoon......


Cheers

Dr. Who?

Hello Dear Readers,

Chris has been casting around for a new TV show to get addicted to watch and he has settled on Dr. Who.  Yay! Another fan to share my addiction with.  One of the people I work with at Kew, who also happens to be American has been lending me the ORIGINAL Dr. Who shows to watch, so I'm starting right from the beginning with William Hartnell.  It's fun to have Chris watch the New ones and me watching the old ones to compare and contrast, and of course we have been watching the third Matt Smith (11th Doctor) on Saturday evenings on the BBC. 

One of my other Dr. Who friends (of which there are many, as you can see), Jennifer, has sent me over the years several lovely and clever cross stitches with a Dr. Who theme.  Patrick finally bought a picture frame for an amazing photo of Picadilly circus that Lucy helped me find after a 2 year search, on Portabello road (that was a great shopping day, hot mama!).   Street where the riches of ages are sold indeed! The photo is similar to, but infinitely superior to this one and apparently much harder to find.......where was I? Oh yeah, picture frame.  Pat finally bought one and it came with two mattes inside for either a 5 by 7 or 3 by 5 photo.  I took that bit and made my very own Dr. Who Triptych!!

The top are the old and new Daleks shouting EXTERMINATE! as they are wont to do.  The second is the "ship" the Doctor travels in known as the Time and Relative Dimension In Space, or Tardis (the thread in the window is glow in the dark!) and the last one is the Matt Smith doctor's equivalent phrase of "Rude, not Ginger" which is "Fezzes are cool".  If you don't get it, you simply are not a Who fan.  Shown above in close up, and below in situ, above the new desk that we got to make space in our room for our latest project and the last 90 days or so of my Year of Me. 

Yup, we got P90X to try, which if you don't know is a big intensive 90 day workout program.  We may not finish, we may not get the promised results, but we are going to give it our best shot.  I'm 30, it's about time I see what this old body can do before I get too old and it gets too hard.  Wish us luck!!  If it all goes well I'll have amazing before and after photos to show you at New Years, and if not, well let's just pretend this post didn't happen then, ok?  Also if you don't hear from me, it's either because I'm working out, too tired from working out, or dead from working out.......

Wish us luck!

Last of the Summer Mud

Hello Dear Readers,

As they say here, the days are starting to draw in. Not really sure what that means, getting smaller I suppose?  At any rate the leaves are changing, mornings are crisp, and I've put a set of full fingered gloves inside of my cycling half gloves.

Last weekend I met up with some friends who I went to the Scilly Isles with at the beginning of the summer.  We went to a small creek that runs to the Thames in Greenwich, where the Cutty Sark and the Observatory is.

 Here I am standing in front of only a small part of the vast collection of detritus that has washed up to Deptford Creek over the years.  Wallets, phones, children's toys, glass, a skateboard, computers, bikes, garden equipment, shoes, china, you name it!  The most interesting thing we found was a short samuari sword, though it had rusted in its sheath so we couldn't see if it was metal or not.  The manager said a lot of it is stolen goods that get too hot and people chuck it in the river.  There was also a case of a boy who fell in far upstream after a heavy rain and was swept down almost to the Thames, but luckily a DLR driver had seen him go by and phoned in downstream so they could catch him.  How lucky!  The water wasn't nearly that high when we went, hence it was a mud walk.  Or more accuraly, poop walk since that's a lot of what we were walking in!

 Here are Chris and I geared up for the walk, hip waders and a sturdy walking stick.  Nick, who runs the place (not pictured) said the only time he's ever fallen over was when he didn't have a stick, so I clung to mine.  We walked up as far inland as we could go and saw some of the old buildings and heard about the history of the area, how there were bakeries until the last one burned down, how they used to break up old ships in there to be reused, and how the new buildings they were putting up were affecting the entire area.  We also saw evidence of this history in the creek bed by finding ceramic bits that belonged in the old ovens, long ship nails and non native plants that were clinging for dear life on the mud and moss on the brick walls of the creek bed.

 
We walked towards the Thames end as well, but the water was starting to get a bit too high and it was rough going for my little legs, almost went in once and took my friend Mark with me!  We were so lucky to have such a warm, sunny, amazing day, that's the last one we've had in a week and I'm afraid it might be the last one we see till next spring.  After the walk we went to Kate's house where she had a beautiful spread of food (vegan too!) and we ate and talked and laughed and generally had a great time. 

To top it off, when we went home we decided to go by river boat.  Unfortunately the commuter boat had a 40 minute wait, so we took the tourist boat which left in 10 min and was half price that day.  We got the rare pleasure of going under the Tower Bridge while it was up, something that the other people who were on the boat with us assured us was a pretty rare event.  The bridge was lifted because a ship with a tall mast was going through, you can just about make it out in the photo here.

As we pulled into Waterloo Big Ben was ringing out 6 pm and we hopped the train home to catch the latest Dr. Who.  Great Times!  This weekend not doing too much, but if things work out I might be going to a Brazilian club to learn to dance forro!  Catch you later!

Catching up on More Visits

Hello Dear Readers,

I had a blissfully quiet weekend, allowing myself to sleep in past 8 both days and catch up on reading and lounging (and Dr. Who, Netflix has the very first doctor episodes on - wheee!!).  I thought I'd catch up a little by sharing a photo of a visitor who came in August, my Master's advisor Dr. Dick Mack.

I'm looking very flushed in that photo because we had a jug of Pimm's at the Botanist, a pub just off of Kew green, then we had a bottle of wine at Wine and Moussaka, a restaurant across from Kew Green run by a guy from Cyprus.  Small world.  It was interesting to talk to him and hear all the gossip from Washington State.  When you leave a place it stays frozen in your mind and it's good to be reminded that things do change and go on.

I also found time this weekend to make a new wallet for myself, you may recall in this blog post that I replaced my old worn but much loved leather wallet with a new one sewn from one of my favorite batik fabrics, which was in its first life a faux wrap skirt, and worked its way into multiple quilts (including this one in our living room)

This time I used some of the last fabric that I got as a fat quarter when I left Hancock Fabrics after graduating in High School (12 years ago!!)  It's little boys playing blind man's bluff (featured in my needle case too, waste not want not).  The inner part is a striped fabric, courtesy of an old pair of Patrick's boxers (washed) and a pink plaid, also from Pat's boxers, but I think the colors and textures really work together.  So cute, I just need an excuse to go on a shopping spree and use it!

So that's about it then, I'm off to have some plum crumble and watch more Dr. Who and spin some sparkly green yarn.  It's getting to feel like fall around here, but in a nice way. Hope everyone else had a good weekend too!