Let the Games Begin.

I just like that post title. I intend to use it multiple times.

I have been kept really too busy for blogging as of late. . . even if I do have spare time, when I come home from work, generally the last thing I want to do is park it in front of the computer and type. .

I've had a lot on my brain and have had a difficult time sleeping this week. I think that a couple of nights of decent rest can really help, and I plan to walk Lucie for a long time this evening so that she is tuckered out, too. (and that will result in better sleep for all of us.)

I had such an enjoyable Saturday morning last weekend, I have decided that I should share. With others, I worked for five hours on a farm - called Johnson's Backyard Garden, http://www.johnsonsbackyardgarden.com/ , a 20 acre organic farm just minutes from downtown Austin. The farm is actually a co-op, where members pay a certain dollar amount for a box of vegetables each week.

It was damp and cold and we arrived around 8 am. Our first project was digging up and bundling green garlic. I was hungry by 8:20 because the garlic smelled so amazing. That was a very muddy way to start the day. We moved on to picking broccoli, and later picked collard greens. We picked and bundled spinach and then had to push the farm truck that was stuck in the mud. Once we were too cold to really do any good in the field, we went into the shed where we washed and bagged arugula and mixed salad greens. Finally, we got in an assembly line and put together boxes for that day's delivery. Each box contained about the same things: oranges and grapefruit from an exchange farm, broccoli, garlic, mint, flat-leaf parsley, kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, spinach, arugula, salad greens, and beets. There were cats underfoot and roosters crowing. Everyone was so friendly and I felt very invigorated when I left. We have enjoyed new recipes all this week as a result of the assortment of early spring/late winter green leafies that I brought home.

mmmm. cupcakes.

As the legislative session blazes on and my ability to hang out in the kitchen decreases, I begin to look back on recent accomplishments with fond memories and I really look forward to summer again..

My most recent and favorite kitchen experience was the day House committee assignments came out. In a suite of three Republican offices, three members lost out big time. I went home and made this recipe. You can find a much better link on smitten kitchen, http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/ and the cupcake recipe was posted there. They were officially called Whiskey, chocolate, and beer cupcakes and playfully referred to as "irish car bomb" cupcakes. I called them what they were in our office: Bitter cupcakes filled with sad disappointment.

I have to say that disappointment has never tasted so good. I will definitely make these again.

yarn and cars

It is a little frustrating to knit in the car. You feel confined and, if you're like me, a little barfy. I can't look down for too long without a headache or some nausea. . But I am not really talking about knitting while riding.

I was thinking about cars and I was thinking about knitting and that is how we get this whole post title. We went to test drive a Honda Pilot last night. I love it, and when we find one that has what we want, I will be very excited.

I am thinking about knitting. Over the past two weeks, I have knitted up a cutie little sweater and I am happy to have it done. It was super easy and was a nice resting project after the houndstooth terror.

an update on the stuff I make

I haven't been feeling particularly talkative lately, so my blog is lacking in text. . .

I have officially finished the sweater for mom. It fit her perfectly and would never fit me, so I am very pleased with it. As soon as she models it for me, I will post a photo (taken with a real camera and not my phone). . .

In December, I painted some onesies for a new boy named Bodie. His dad is very into microbrews and these were born:

birdwatching at wal-mart

Have you ever seen the flock of wild parrots that we have here in Austin? I have heard they're in Temple, too, but I don't know if it is the same group.

I have seen them a few times, always in the winter. Once, they were in the trees at the CVS on Lake Austin Blvd. Another time, I spied them in the parking lot by Starbucks in Tarrytown.

Most recently, I was walking out of Wal-Mart in North Austin when we saw them in the grass, hanging out with the commoners (grackles). . They are apple green in color.

I tried to snap photos with my phone, but the quality is sub par. . . These photos are sort of like those 'Magic Eye' puzzles that make you look really hard to find the picture in the static.

Itz Chritzmiz.

I just want to post a quick photo of our Christmas tree, because I love the all white room and the silver decorations.

Please ignore the towel I used to swab down the floor when I spilled the tree water. . .and never you mind the ottoman on its side to keep the beast off of our couch.

I just have so much to say!!!

I have failed to update this blog for a while - I was too busy and so overinvolved in too many things, so the blog was unfortunately a victim. . . so here goes:

The Wellers (myself, Mr. Weller, and Lucie Weller) took a much needed vacation recently to Santa Fe. We drove, by way of Amarillo and Lubbock, stopping for a quick drive through Palo Duro Canyon. In Amarillo, we stopped for dinner at the WORLD FAMOUS Big Texan Steakhouse. (If you are not aware, the Big Texan is the home of the free* 72 ounce steak.) *Free= eat the salad, baked potato, roll and all 72 ounces in an hour or less, and it is on the house, or pay around sixty bucks and if you get sick you have to clean up after yourself.

Palo Duro Canyon, in case you didn't know, is the second largest canyon in the United States. Neat! (and it is here in Texas, as part of a Texas State Park.) The canyon is beautiful, lots of colors in the rock walls, and full of interesting animals. This time of year, many of the animals are hiding, because it is stinkin' cold. . . it was in the low twenties when we were there. We did get lucky, however, and saw a flock of wild turkeys in the canyon, just off the side of the road. We rolled down the windows, Lucie peered out, and in their hurry to get away from us, we could actually hear the gobbling. I took a photo with my camera, but it isn't the best quality from far away. . .

In Santa Fe, we rented a cute little casita on Artist's Road. We enjoyed seriously large amounts of food containing green chiles. We ate at a number of recommended restaurants, including the Shed, Maria's, and the Pink Adobe. We drank fabulous margaritas at La Posada's bar, and the Dragon Room. We shopped on the plaza - I bought a cookbook and a few little things but nothing big. . We enjoyed the galleries on Canyon Road. We went to the flea market on the edge of town and promptly left. . . We visited the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, and built pinyon wood fires every night in our kiva fireplace. We came home with a little bit of leftover firewood, and hopefully, sometime soon, it will get cool enough to actually burn something in our fireplace.

A note on making fires: Thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to make the ultimate firestarters that work like a charm.

Recipe for firestarters:

one pressed cardboard egg carton (NOT styrofoam or plastic)

dryer lint, enough to stuff and fill all of the egg carton holes

clear or white paraffin or clear/white old candle nubs

candle wicks

1. Melt the paraffin or old candles. I do this by placing a coffee can or jar in a small pan of simmering water on the stove. (Melt that stuff in a container that won't melt itself and in a container that you are okay sacrificing)

2. While the wax is melting, stuff the dryer lint in each of the holes of the egg carton.

3. Cut a one inch wick for each separate hole/cell of the egg carton. Place an end of the wick into the dryer lint in each cell, working it down into the lint.

4. When liquified, slowly pour the paraffin over each cell of dryer lint. Fill as much as you can without overflowing.

Allow these to solidify. When ready to build a fire, rip off an individual cell and light its wick, placing into your pile of logs. These are long and steady burning little things. You will be surprised! A couple of notes: Do not use colored wax. If any of the wax doesn't completely burn away, it will drip onto your fireplace andirons or floor, and colored wax stains the brick. . . Also, don't leave these someplace where your husband will find them without explaining first what they are. (They aren't pretty. Dryer lint has hair and fur and weird particles in it. .) I left a full carton (having used blood-red candle wax) in our pantry. Mr. Weller was packing the pantry for a move, found the carton, opened the carton, and was entirely horrified. He believed that he had stumbled across some sort of largely out of date rotten and decaying eggs.

More later. Mr. Weller wants the laptop.