Here's to a new year! While 2014 held its challenges (don't they all?) here are a few things that caught my attention.
While this isn't a year in review
per se, I am posting some of my favorite iPad photos of 2014. The blogger app is horrendous, so I'm uploading these photos from the iPad and adding commentary from my trusty laptop. Here's to hoping this is seamless, unlike most things iPad and blogger related:
My old orchids - they never let me down. Right now, my three orchids in the kitchen window have grown four flower shoots. Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll have abundant blooms. Did you know orchids like cold windowsills? This is proof.
A pretty snowy
early late March morning. (I checked the date stamp on this photo, and it was March 28). At this point in the game, it was like winter will never end. Never End. But it did, sometime in April...
Ah yes, proof that spring sprang. Lovely apple blooms. Photo taken May 20.
A summer sunset.
I knit a lot in 2014. This is my Rowan Kidsilk Haze Reversible Cabled-Rib Shawl. I don't think we could throw another descriptor in that sentence if we tried. I have wanted to knit this scarf since 1999. To think that was 15 years ago scares the hell out of me!
Another pretty sunset.
And a view over the barn. The sky was so beautiful with pastel clouds and sky.
A double rainbow for your viewing pleasure.
And the other half. Maybe one day, I'll figure out if my digital camera has a wide-angle feature. Or maybe not. I'll just keep taking potato-quality pictures with the iPad.
More scenery. Enough already! Been there, done that!
Big Tessie and Big BobCat. Odin is afraid of Tessie, so BobCat has learned if he takes the bottom bunk, Odin leaves him alone. He's a smart cat...
I called this my Halloween Face sunset.
Odin shows poor Bob undying affection, much to BobCat's dismay. Here, he's resigned to his fate. And Odin doesn't even want to look me in the face...la la la la...pretend she's not there...la la la la...
Ohhh, pretty fuzzy mohair wool, with matching alpaca skeins. I think this is going to be vacation wool. I plan on making my version of Purl Soho's Amazing Seed Stitch Wrap, but at a fraction of the cost. I'm pretty sure this is going to end up in my suitcase. I don't know if I'm looking forward to a vacation, or looking forward to knitting this up. I hoarded a lot of wool in 2014. It's almost shameful. I have a huge Rubbermaid bin full of future projects. I won't even make any knitting resolutions for 2015, because my 2014 resolutions crashed and burned, just like 2013, and 2012 and...forget about it...I'm just going to knit, and that will be that.
Odin's first selfie! I found this on the iPad and had a good laugh.
We went to a Christmas fair and I picked up these mitts because I couldn't resist them. Sewn by a local craftswoman, these gloves are made from a beautiful felted fair-isle Shetland sweater found in a thrift shop. They have a polar fleece liner, and are super-warm. My favorite mitts. The chopping board likewise is made by a local woodworker. Apparently this is
Eric's chopping board.
Eric surprised me this year by returning from an overseas trip and proudly proclaiming that he learned how to make risotto. (Eric doesn't even know how I take my tea, which should give you an inkling about Eric's cooking abilities.) One of our Swiss friends is a Cordon Bleu master-chef, and a remarkable pedagogue. He taught Eric how to make a mushroom risotto that is out of this world. Eric now goes into Italian grocery stores and compares bottles of truffle oil, and could probably write a treatise on carnaroli versus arborio rice. Yes, Eric has turned into a foodie! A man after my own heart! Last night, he made a lobster tail risotto with saffron and asparagus that was my most memorable meal of 2014. Wow. We ended 2014 on a culinary high note.
We had little snow in December 2014. In fact, the above field was completely bare as of this morning, but since then, we've had a little "snow event" as Environment Canada now conveniently calls anything from a flurry to a freeze-the-balls-off-a-brass-monkey blizzard. I'm good with the milder temps compared to last year, and fine with the fact that we have a dusting of snow as opposed to snow banks that are metres high.
On that note, we turn the page on 2014, and welcome 2015 with open arms.
13 comments:
Happy New Year! I'm so happy to see your post! Somehow you got kicked off my blog roll (along with 2/3 my other fav blogs). Blogger is such a mess and the app is a joke! I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEE the photo of Odin and his master kitty. That is so damn cute. I love that Odin is smart enough to take a selfie. Barbie hasn't done that, but she does love to scroll on my iPad when she sits on my lap (always).
Your sunsets are so pretty. And where you live looks genuinely gorgeous! I have a business venture in mind for you. A sleep-away camp where husbands are sent to learn to cook. You'll be a millionaire. I'm seriously craving lobster risotto now.
Hi Stephen, so happy you dropped by! Hahaha, Eric is on his way to Germany as I write. I called our friends earlier and asked them to have a new meal idea in the works LOL. Last time, it was potatoes Dauphinoise with mushroom-stuffed pork tenderloin on a bed of seared leeks. While Eric hasn't had the chance to cook his latest creation for me, just knowing he has a new recipe in his back pocket puts me at ease. It's SO NICE to hand over the cooking reins from time to time!
We live in a really pretty location, in a pretty effed up old house! LOL...one day we'll have finished floors everywhere and the gardens will be whipped into shape. Then we'll probably pick up and do this all over again somewhere else.
I really don't know what to do with blogger. I'm thinking of heading over to Wordpress, because the app is a joke. Sometimes, on my iPad, all I have is a bold line at the bottom that says COMPLAIN TO BLOGGER like it's helpful!!! My laundry list is long.
Anyhow, you know the drill as well as I do. In the meantime, I really do hope I can post more (something I threaten regularly) and we'll just keep our fingers crossed that blogger can keep up with me LOLz.
That is hilarious Eric turned into a foodie. This could be a great thing for you! I rarely make dinner now as Lee has completely taken over. He has gotten pretty competent on Japanese cooking and has been exploring curries and Malaysian food now. He is over the top excited because his Sous Vide came in the mail yesterday. I'm telling you, sometimes I just want a simple 30 minute meal now.
It's so funny that you should mention sous vide cooking, too, Robin. Stephen Andrew put up a post about it a while back, and I was checking it out yesterday. This morning, I was reading the reviews at Costco. The idea of cooking sous vide is now on my radar.
Eric looooves food. He's French, his mom is an AMAZING cook, so he comes by it honestly. But this is also a man who has been known to throw spaghetti in a pot of boiling water a full hour before we are ready to eat, thinking he's "helping me". (I always put my pot of salted water on the stove waaay before we're ready to eat and turn the heat off). I turn my back for a second and the pasta's already boiling - whhaaaat? Anyhow, that's Eric.
And, like most things Eric attempts, it's with exacting precision and a level of perfection you and I could only aspire to. (Somehow, I have a feeling Lee is the same). I will indulge his culinary passion to any extent. My mouth is still watering from New Year Eve's lobster risotto...
Well, here's to hoping that in 2015 we'll finally get finished houses! Keep posting your progress, because things are moving along a whole lot faster now!
I left Blogspot for Wordpress as I agree its a lousy app. However, I ended up going back to Blogspot when Flickr screwed me up by using big jpgs instead of thumbnails. My 'country highspeed' rendered Flickr useless. I do miss flexibility of Wordpress though and may return if I find better way to use my photos.
Hi Doug! Thanks for your input. I remember all the problems you had with your blog, coupled with lots of internet outages. I agree that the changes at Flickr were not positive ones. And the interface (or lack thereof) between the iPad (which is a convenience, not a tool) and my trusty ancient laptop leaves a lot to be desired. Ah yes, First World Problems!
I guess we'll just keep chugging on, hoping for something more user-friendly to come along.
Wowzer - gorgeous skies. And I love your mitts.
Hello! I thought I had left a comment on this post a long time back, but I don't see it! I wanted to say how envious I am of your re-blooming orchid plant. Holy cow, that is amazing. I cannot get any orchid plant to re-bloom. I guess I don't have the right touch. I love your sunset photos too! Thank you for leaving a comment today about our mudroom reno. I'm excited. That room, tiny as it is, has been a thorn in my side for so long. It will be so wonderful to have a spiffed up mudroom.
Claudia
Hi Claudia, so happy you stopped by!
Getting orchids to flower again is not really a science. Once they have finished flowering, I re-pot them in new orchid mix (I use Schultz brand), and prune any dead roots back. I also water my orchids with Schultz orchid fertilizer every two weeks. I fill my kitchen sink, add about a 1/4 tsp fertilizer, and give the orchids a thorough SOAKING. I set my kitchen timer for 15 minutes and just let them soak. I drain the water and let the orchids drip dry until I can't take it anymore and need to use the sink for something else! I also mist my orchids every morning, my little breakfast ritual while the tea steeps...
Actually, I have what I call the "orchid hospital" set up on my kitchen counter. I picked up several old orchids that were destined for the garbage pile. I take pity on this sort of thing (like I don't have enough "projects" of my own), but I am happy to report that of 6 orchids, I've brought all back to perfect health (that means each grew 2 leaves in a year), and 4 of the 6 have flower shoots. I'm pretty pleased with myself!
The biggest challenge is finding the right exposure. All are in a north-west facing window, and get really cold nights and no direct sun. I've heard cold nights are key. It might seem counter-intuitive, but it's working for me!
I am as excited about your mudroom as you are, probably! (But then, I have to add, I was "that" child who would run through houses under construction and sniff cut 2x4's with utter delight), so I'm not the norm, but it's all so exciting, isn't it?
What would we do if we lived in perfect homes? Life would be so dull...
Hey where have you been?!
Hey Stephen! Thanks for checking in with us. We're alive and well, but it's been SO COLD here that it's sapped our energy. Eric's in London via Vancouver, and I'm at home, jealous. Would it not be for the pets, I'd have high-tailed in outta here by now! This winter is getting long, and it's been a really hard one. But I've got the fire going, Dinaroo is cuddled in beside me, and Bob is snoring in the background. And my sanity-saving knitting is nearby, so it's not all bad LOL. We're hanging in, hope you are, too!
Hasn't been so bad here. We're sort of on the edge of everything so we get the abridged version of all the storms. Spring does seem a looooong way off, doesn't it?
Hi Stephen. Spring is still far off. I'm giving it another 6 weeks, at least. But the mornings are beautiful and bright and the days are getting what seems like exponentially longer. It's not all bad, but it can warm up any day now. It's been brutally cold with no respite for the last 8 weeks. Our road isn't even thawed to the pavement yet, we're got inches of compacted snow on every surface and walkway. And I hear you about your car. I decided my next one is all-wheel drive, too!
Post a Comment