Knitting, Botany, Mycology, Nature, Adventure, and Life... in no particular order.
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I might have a problem
It might be time to admit I have a problem, and it is bordering on addiction. I love tea. Sounds innocent enough till I look at how much I love having and collecting different teas. I faced this realization Christmas morning before I put the stew together. I needed to put some things in the cabinet and realized it was a mess. On cleaning it out I started putting all my teas in a pile. (I had remarked just the night before how I would like a better place to keep them and thought perhaps after seeing how much I had I could figure out where.)
Oh bother do I have a lot of tea. (Hooray!) First I organized all my various tea bags that are in individual packets and put them in a plastic bin. (A much larger one than I had been using.) Then I realized I might have gotten to the crazy point and took some pictures.
This was my entire tea stash as of Christmas Morning this year. (I have other tea at work, like almost a 1/2 pound of Harney & Sons Paris among other things.)
So let’s look at the boxed teas…
Here we have (in colums top to bottom then L-R) Twinings Black Pomegranite (bought as a quick make tea on the way out the door without needing to deal with looseleaf), a tea sent in a swap that is from Israel and Lemony, Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend which I bought to send to a Twitter friend HobbitWriter and had to keep one for myself (how could I not?!), Celestial Seasonings: Wild Berry Zinger (we’re heading into cold season after all), Sleepytime (I always have some of that, since I was a wee tot) and Chai (which was an accidental purchase and was supposed to be decaf). Normally I also have Tension Tamer but I brought it to work and I might have enough others at home right now. Last are a couple Yogi teas: Bedtime (with natural sleep aids) for when I am really in rough shape, and Peach Detox, which I am not entirely sold on and bought on a whim one time.
Next up: Tub-o-teabags! (and friends)
There’s a little bit of everything in here. Tim Horton swapped tea, Tazo tea, Bigelow, and countless other things. It also is where I have some of my special Chinese tea I have been rationing out from a friend’s trip to Chengdu… last Christmas! Guess I better have some of that this week!
We have my 2 standards, my go-to teas:
Tealuxe: Buckingham Palace Garden Party is my go-to tea generally. It’s basically an Earl Gray with Jasmine and it is magnificent (which is why I bought it a little tin). Decaf Earl Gray is perfect for evenings when I want something that tastes like tea but that won’t keep me up.
We have my little jars of tea
Clockwise from top left: Peach Momotaro blooming white tea (Teavana), Lady Gray (sent in a swap from Australia!!), Berry Blast (swapped from somewhere), & Jasmine Dragon Pearls (teavana). All lovely and all so wel preserved and pretty in their glass jars.
Then I have a couple single flavor herbs I like to use sometimes
I have Lemon Verbena collected from a friend’s garden and plain old Mem tea Chamomile. Sometimes I use them together, sometimes I add one or the other to supplement a tea I already have. They live in that lovely Portmerion Botanic Garden canister from 1972.
These were both gifts
The mint green isn’t really my thing and the one on the right is from someone I used to work with. A black Chinese tea from his home city in China. It is very good, but smokier than I normally like. I keep them around for guests, but may bring them to work.
Over the summer at our local farmer’s market I discovered this new local vendor: Bees Knees Teas!
A co-worker and I got various ones and split them. Schizandra Plum Oolong is good, and the Biodynamic Darjeeling is next to it. The Autum Chai I picked up in October or November and is excellent (and 1/2 rooibos), Mango Chrysanthemum is a green tea and is not too sweet, and Soul Soother is a Rooibos with hints of vanilla, caramel, and Sweet Olive. They’re little pouches and I’m using them up quick enough.
That was all my tea. Christmas morning (well really on the 17th) I got a tea from a dear friend, co-worker, and proprietress of Flower Folk Herbs as a holiday present!
She blended it herself! (And I had some last night and it was lovely. It came out a rich pinky-red color from the hibiscus & elderberry and the peppermint and lemongrass really were not too strong or too weak!)
So there is all is. A ton of tea! I was shocked, and would have been appalled if I wasn’t actually a crazed collecting addict. I decided on several that I should bring in to work and then told myself I was not allowed to buy any more tea! (At least till I used up a good portion of this stash! I have a tea stash AND a yarn stash. It’s a good thing my fella loves me!)
But it turns out, that wasn’t the end…
Mom provided my lovely sister and I with Whole Foods treasures for Christmas. A new fancy honey (for tea!) and a Republic of Tea Ginger Peach Decaf… which has always been a favorite and I almost never have! What a treat! I had a nice little pot of it last night. Mmmm.
So yeah, lots of tea. I’ll need it during this first big snow! We’re having a blizzard. The old familiar rumble of the plows came by last night for the first time this season. Now the sound of snowblowers fill the air as the storm continues to blow tiny sharp flakes.
I’ll go take some pictures later when the snow has stopped… but this is what it looked like last night… and with the wind it was really drifting.
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Recap and Catch-up
One week ago I ran the BAA 1/2 marathon, and this is evidence that I even finished it! It was long with many hills, but those hills were lined with cheering spectators. Sometimes it feels like the farther back in the pack you are the more they cheer… which is why I am sure I end up in the back of the pack.
If you live in the Boston area and have needed to go to JP for anything you have probably been on the Arborway and Riverway. If you’re not used to driving on them and there’s traffic you might also exclaim out lout about the speeds people travel, the narrowness of the lanes and all the curves. What you might not notice is all the hills. We noticed those on foot. We also noticed how awesome it was to be able to run in the middle of the road.
The end of the race was hard because there were yet more hills but we knew we were almost done as we entered the zoo. We ran right past a large peacock as we entered the park, who by the time I got there seemed barely curious by the heavy breathing, fast(ish) moving people going by. We ran down the little paths they had marked out and we could hear the lions roaring. We didn’t get close enough to see them, but I think they could smell us.
There were no unicorns in the zoo, but a lot of unicorns ran through the zoo. About 5,000 unicorns actually. It was pretty cool.
I followed that all up with a nasty cold, a week home sick, a bus to UMass and then a bus to the NY Seep & Wool in Rhinebeck NY. I’ll have more to report about each of those when my mind recovers a bit. Totally crazy!
I will show you the fingereless mitts I started (and am going to frog) as well as my in progress hat. The fingerless mitts… I love the pattern, I love the yarn, I do not love them together.
The colors went from striking to muddied. I think it needs to be used on a larger object. Also, the braided cables don’t really stand out. Perhaps it needs something not variegated after all.
My hat is coming along nicely. Stranding is going ok. My tension is not perfectly even, but it is certainly ok. I have no idea if the size is going to be right. I should be able to try it on fairly soon.
Then maybe I can start on a sweater with my new yarn!
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The Route
Here is a route map of where we are running on Sunday. http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ma/boston/360128216488379658 Note it is by the Green line (D & E) and the end of the Orange line at Forest Hills. I hope (fingers crossed) to be running 11 minute miles, which means I’ll be going by the Fenway area around 9.20 (give or take).
You can see the official course map here. And if you need to drive near there you can check road closings here.
The race starts at 8.30 am on Sunday and I’ll be running with a bright bright blue visor on. Feel free to schlep on over to a section of the race, drink some coffee and cheer for the few seconds it take me to go by.
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10 week count-down: 10
In 10 weeks I run the BAA 1/2 marathon. 13.1 miles.
I think I’m crazy, but at least I’m not the only one. I have 3 other people I know running it as well.
Today I officially started my training with almost a 4.7 mile run. Considerably shorter than 13.1, but it means I have to add less than 10 miles total to my distance in 10 weeks. That’s less than a mile a week. How hard could it be?!
Stay tuned over the next 10 weeks to find out. For now I better drink more water, take ibuprophen and go to bed. Wooooo!
Photo
More to Follow: In the past 10 days I have managed to go to both PAX East 2010 and St. Louis. There is much I want to share from both of these events. However, it has been nuts. I will share more soon.
Here is a photo to wet your appetite for tales of adventure.
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Teaching Science
There are issues all over the country when it comes to teaching modern scientific theory in science classrooms. Instead of it getting better it may actually be getting worse.
Check out this New York Times article. (Which I got pointed to by a friend through twitter)
I bet these were all the same type of people that railed against Galileo, Newton, and anyone else who has tried to advance science and been outcast from society (at best).
Amazingly, this kind of thing just makes me want to teach High School Biology and fight against the insanity.
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Time Addict
So I love wearing watches. I find them comfortable, convenient and aesthetically pleasing. The first watch I really remember wearing was a Swatch watch with a pink edge and an neat pattern in the face and on the original strap. (Holey crap I found it!) I wore it for many, many years. One of the times I needed to get a new strap I stored it somewhere in my room for safe keeping, and then by the time I got a new strap, it was lost like buried treasure. (I am pretty sure one day I or my parents will come across that watch.)
Then in high school, because I was on the track team, I got a simple black Timex watch with a multiple lap memory and split function. It was super easy to use, very reliable, and the buttons were easy to press but did not get pressed accidentally. That became my daily watch for about 8 years or so, of course with strap and battery changes over the years. (Older modal, similar to this, but older model was better!)
After college, in my first good job (the same one I am in now), I treated myself to a really nice watch. A Victorinox thin officer’s watch with brushed metal and a navy face (here-ish). I wanted something that would be very accurate, that would make me feel more grown up, and that I could wear to nice places (because generally a grimy, beat up, black timex watch is not considered appropriate with a nice dress).
Eventually my Timex kicked it at the beach. Too much salt water I guess. I had to replace it, because I still use a digital for timing runs and sports. (And the one I have now is not near as good and I will probably need to replace it after negligible use in 3 years. Also I do need lap capability after all.)
Here’s the thing, that’s probably an account of my watch wearing history over the past 19 years at least. So, slowly I have become extremely used to wearing a watch, and I feel incomplete when I don’t wear one. (Occasionally lazy weekend day exception.) I have also become very aware of time (some say obsessively) in my daily life. I use my watch to gauge my walking speed from place to place in case I am dawdling, or in case I have time to dawdle. I use it to check the date when I am signing paperwork at work. I use it to see if it is almost time for lunch, a meeting, to make coffee, etc at work because I am often away from my desk and I do not carry my phone with me at work. (No reception in most places anyways.)
So, when I forgot to wear my watch to work yesterday I seriously considered for a brief minute turning around and going home to get it! (I also tried to see if my sweet, darling, handsome and considerate fella had any errands that would bring him my way. Nope!) I complained over twitter a bit, but mostly jokingly. It was very disconcerting and uncomfortable to be without a watch. I really like being punctual, especially when cookies or people waiting are on the line. Maybe my friends are right, maybe I am too obsessed with time. Certainly I can cope and figure out timing when I don’t have a watch. However why take a chance when there are potentially cookies on the line?!
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Olympic Dream
I never thought I would get to take part in the winter olympics, but it turns out 2010 is my year. I am going to officially participate in the Knitting Olympics that were founded by the Yarn Harlot. See this year’s announcement (and over 600 comments) here.
What are the Knitting Olympics? What types of events am I planning on competing in? Am I just plain nuts?
Well, you can go and read about the knitting olympics at length, as well as about the version done on Ravelry, the Ravelympics. I was interested a little, but it was really the Yarn Harlot who inspired me. The Knitting Olympics are when, during the Winter Olympics you, during the course of the games, you canst on and complete a whole project that you find difficult or challenging in some way. Be it a large project, a complicated project, new techniques, etc. More skilled knitletes are taking on things like full stranded Norwegian style sweaters and Alice Starmore cabled sweaters. On Ravelry events are names things like “Cable Cross-Country,” “Nordic Colorwork Combined,” and “Sweaterboard Cross.” But basically there are event types for anything you might want to do, and it also doesn’t need to be conceptualized in such a formal way. Some people even take on multiple projects/events… like knitting 2 sweaters!
What kind of olympian do I want to be? That took some thought. Since the Olympics start 6pm PST on the 12th and finish just before midnight PST on the 28th (almost 3am for me!) it is a compact length of time, and I am not too fast a knitter. Part of my decision was around what I have in my stash, part about patterns I have been meaning to knit, and part about choosing something challenging. It came down to socks vs. mittens. I have yet to finish a pair of adult socks, but I also have been planning on knitting the Jared Flood Druid Mittens for over a year. Both would be challenging, both give me an easy halfway mark to get to, both would be a real achievement. My event: the cabled mittens!
This I think answers the third question: I am totally nuts. (However so are hundreds, if not thousands of other knitters.) Then again, if you think about it, so are olympic athletes. think about it.
So, now I have until Friday to finish the Citron shawl I have been working on (15 rows to go! over 200 stitches per row…) so I can wear it to NYC. And I need to work in some other “training” for the Olympics. Some stretching, some rest, and the little bit of pre-olympic limbering up (read gauge-swatching so I know what size needles to use). Also, unlike an actual olympic athlete, I can drink either tea or beer while participating in my event. (Unless there are actual olympic events you can do this in…)
Also, it just so happens, that I love to watch the olympics and have had the schedule on my desktop for a few weeks now. I mean with things like luge, bobsled, the biathlon, downhill, halfpipe, hockey, speed skating, and curling who wouldn’t be excited?! I mean, my guy might not be thrilled by the amount of time I will want to watch things that are not video game related, but he’s very understanding and we’re finally going to set up the other tv, so it should be ok.
So, 9pm this Friday it all begins. The opening ceremony: The lighting of the torch OR The cast on! Who wants in?!
