Long Time Comin'

I know I know, it's been an eternity since I've posted. There's been a ton of stuff.
Work, teaching, art, knitting, - work, teaching, art, sleep, garden, - work, teaching, art, cat - goofing off somewhere in there too - oh so much.
But I wanted to post a few things.
1). This is what I did this weekend:I knitted some shells. So for the knitters, those are (small) - sock yarn with gold ribbon, (medium) a regular acrylic yarn, and (large) a super heavy weight (size #13 needle) yarn.

My friend Irina and her husband gave me an amazon gift card. Yippee! Two seconds later - I bought that "Amigurumi Knits" book I've been wanting - Amazon won't let me steal their image - so you'll just have to look that title up on their website up.

Oh it's really really good and very very challenging. This is concentration knitting, no watching Netflix while you're at it. I don't know what I will do with the shells, but since I'm on this funny shell kick, I thought it was valid studio work. We shall see.

2). This is my poor kitty, post cleaning all of the vet-smell off of himself this evening. Yes, my poor baby has a urinary tract infection (at least he's not blocked this time), needs his medication every morning for the next ten days, (that should be fun), and poor little guy he is exhausted from this ordeal. But at least he's okay. He is watching the giant fly that is buzzing around my living room at the moment. Doesn't appear to be much more interested than that.

3). Food.
a) For the past few weeks my farm share has been really good to me. Last week I got 4 pears, one squash, broccoli, four onions, cheese, sweet Italian sausage, granola and eggs. This week I got four apples, breakfast sausage, cheese, eggs, granola, squash, potatoes, and turnips. I haven't needed to got to Trader Joe's since the beginning of November. Now that's sayin' something!
It's really fun being creative. Yesterday I waged war on my yard once more. I took out the tomato plants, harvest the last of the green tomatoes, and generally wrecked havoc on the poor innocent bushes - which just don't belong there! Needless to say, I was hungry. So I made a saute of sausage, onions, garlic, green tomatoes and squash. It was really yummy... cumin - I think- does the trick every time.
The stand next to where I pick up my farm share has some interesting things. For example I started picking up raw milk from them. This is the real old-fashioned stuff, cream at the top and all, straight from the cow. It's pretty good with that granola, let me tell you.
That stand also had these:Want a hint? - that's a cauliflower. Now, I don't like cauliflower, so I'm not going to eat that - but I just think it's really pretty. Is this thing for real? Or is it genetically modified?
I also discovered a few months ago that my local International Food and Spices Store (Pakistani) store also carries Injera bread. That's the flat Ethiopian/Eritrean bread. Yum Yum. I bought a packet, and ate it with the Turnip/apple/onion and spices stew I had made the night before. Yum. Yum.
Then I got a closer look at the label. Hee hee! - spell check doesn't catch it when ya use the complete wrong word!

In the mean time -

Well - it's been a while since I posted - and that's because I've been busy. You are surprised?
Halloween weekend, I went up to visit a friend for her 40th in Massachusetts - Western Mass - which is so beautiful this time of year. I took Amtrak, and after New York (to Albany) the tracks run along the eastern side of the Hudson River. What a view - it's absolutely beautiful. Melanie had a birthday party - which was fun and great- I got to meet her two new kitties, MJ and Oscar - who are soOo cute. They are the Mouse Patrol - and apparently doing a great job. It was great seeing Melanie and also great to see one of my favorite former interns, Amanda - got all caught up with her on her her life which seems to be just spiffy. :)
When I arrived back home - I discovered that I had an opossum in the trap. The opossum was fast asleep. Apparently one sleeps during daytime - no matter what situation one finds one self in. I let it out - because a) opossums don't live in peoples attics and b) they eat all the bugs and grubs in the garden... and then! the darn thing played dead. So I backed up and it revived and started munching on the paper mulberry berries lying all around the trap - not in the least disconcerted.
Now - the squirrel I caught the next day in the trap was a different matter. The poor thing would go crazy every time I came near it. I took it over to Kelly Dr. Opened the cage - the darn thing went shooting across the grass - not up the tree like I thought it would, but straight across four lanes of traffic and up the embankment to the other side of the street. I couldn't believe it! Well, now it's got Kelly drive, the Schuylkill River and at least several blocks between it and me. I can hope that it won't come back. I'll set the trap out again this weekend - we'll see what I catch this time around.
Speaking of this weekend, I curated a book arts show which opens this weekend. It is a show of Australian Book artists I met while in Australia this summer. The work is amazing and the gallery is really great!
As soon as I have a link I'll post it. In the meantime - here's a pic of me with Monica Oppen's book Dark Forrest, with Anne-Maree Hunter's book The Tower of Babel in the foreground. I'm really excited about the opening this weekend. Should be fantastic. I just have a three hour drive down to Washington DC. - that's all.
While I was away last weekend - look who discovered the radiant heat in the bathroom!:
yep - those tiles are about 86 degrees - compared with about 65 degrees for the rest of the house. Now at least I know where to find him. :)
I also managed to finish one of the shelves in my studio. With a little help from Home Dept the Ikea shelves are just perfect.
Yes - that is peg-board nailed to the back of the shelves. Nice, eh?
I'm working on the next set which are wider and which I think will accommodate the little Adona Printing press my dad gave me. I think that will go a long way in book production. I'm super excited about my studio now. Slowly things are falling into place.
And finally - SEPTA (South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) is on strike! It's amazing. The traffic is amazing. I heard on the radio that Septa calculates about 900,000 rides per day! And now with them on strike - all those people are in cars, or on bicycles. In the morning it's not so bad - I've been riding my bike, and dealing with half asleep people. In the evening - well - hold on to your hat - because people are tired, and cranky and crazy! Plus - all these people who haven't been riding their bikes are doing the darndest things. I actually yelled at a guy today who was riding the wrong way! I was ticked - because here's the thing: The Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia has fought long and hard to get two streets in center city to have bicycle lanes painted on them. We finally got two streets (one running in each direction), and they are one block away from each other .... and here comes this knucklehead! No helmet - coke bottle thick glasses - riding the wrong way in on a one way street! And I can't believe I'm actually battling bicycle traffic! Most of me is thrilled - but a little part of me is annoyed - especially when someone you passed a block earlier has the nerve to park in front of you when you are both waiting for a red light. Then you just have to pass him all over again - and yes - it's always a guy.
The good part about the strike - it's been so quiet on my street - I forget how noisy those buses and trolleys are.
Now you're caught up - more later.