passed 2 exams? check.
solved dogs health problems? check.
made bread successfully for the second time? check.

*ok well, i might not have actually solved the dog’s health problems. but he’s seeming better and i’m hoping i helped.

yesterday, in between running a few errands, studying, and watching movies…  i made bread.  the excitement i have at actually having made bread that is edible and not a solid rock is immense.  i feel like annapurna and it feels good.

i started with a recipe from smitten kitchen – bread without a timetable.  i followed it almost to the T…not.    i changed the type of flour used, used bran instead of germ and used rice milk instead of milk and water….  what i did follow was the idea that time and temperature don’t matter; you can’t overknead by hand; just relax and let it go.  and it turned out great:

first bread!

steamy!

i was so excited by my first success making a baguette style loaf that i immediately cracked open the joy of cooking and made two loaves of white bread.  it was an entire day of thinking about bread – i finished the last two loaves around 10pm.  and they are awesome.

basic white bread. nom.

a quick note while i figure out what this blog should be…

view this, share this, act on it.

Remember that yarn you gave me for Christmas? The silk/seacell blend that was oh-so-soft you snuggled with it in the store before purchase? You do? Good. Then also remember that I tried to knit the pattern that it came with, I really really did try. And I really really hated it. I didn’t like knitting with two balls at once. It was twisty and confusing and I think maybe a smaller two ball project would be a better way to start. And as the project grew I also realized that I didn’t like the pattern. Ruh-roh. Danger. If I don’t like the pattern am I going to keep knitting it? Nope. It’s going into “the room” and I’m leaving it there for-evah. So, instead of doing that, I changed patterns! I know that pre-christmas I had sent you a link to this shawl because I am in love with it. The pattern has been knit eleventy-billion times. Right now there are 11,532 projects posted on ravelry. It’s simple and for some reason this one by Terhi over at mustaa villaa made me need to knit it.  Of course, I love most of what she knits.

Anyway, I’m side-tracked.  The new shawl is coming along.  You’ll get to see it in a week when you get here!  I can’t wait to show you.  I know you’ll pet it and ooo a little bit.

love, J

Blogging from my new iPod touch. And from bed! This is the coolest toy ever. Now, I think I’ll watch some rick mercer report episodes or maybe a movie…

I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog and blogs in general. Why am I driven to blog? Is it because I never wrote that book? I feel the need to connect with the outside world? I want to share what I think and what I’m doing with total strangers? It’s an odd compulsion.

I read a lot of blogs and have been trying to figure out what I want MY blog to be. Is it going to be just a personal account of my daily life? Is it going to be a hobby blog (relating to knitting I guess…)? Is it going to be random opinions on current events, failed experiments (like me + any living plant = failure), or…or…or… ? A lot of the blogs I read are personal but what sets them apart is that they’re well written and/or I share the writers attitudes about life, politics, food, etc. Some are hobby blogs and I only go there for hobby content – and am quite dismayed when the writer goes on vacation and I get days and days of pics of them around the world (because I don’t care about THEM, just what they produce). So how am I going to balance what I want and like in others blogs in my own?

This is going to require some planning.  The old blog started out with a very specific purpose – to chronicle my trip across the country, the summer spent in Vermont, and the subsequent move here (affectionatly referred to as the island in the middle of nowhere).  Once I was safely here, employed, and living my normal life again the old blog lost steam.  The original use had been satisfied and there was nothing else that struck me as important enough to blog about.  Now, I’ve been focussing more on fibre arts and how fibre plays an important role in my life (and is playing a more and more important role every day).  So maybe that’s my thing.

I know I don’t want this to be solely a personal blog.  Yes, there will be some personal element to it of course, but that’s not the point of this.  If you want to be up in my face on a personal level then you can find me on facebook or ravelry.  So…  I guess now I have to decide what I want to talk about.

* post title shamelessly stolen

I’ve been doing some reading about paper products – tissue, toilet paper, etc – trying to determine what products are the best both environmentally and economically. I found these two links useful:  Greenpeace Tissue Guide and NRDC Shopper’s Guide although they don’t have the President’s Choice brand on there which is what I usually buy. I think the other half hates that I buy “scratchy” toilet paper, but I just refuse to buy a product that is so obviously damaging to our planet. For facial tissue I’m happy to use a slightly scratchier product for the every day nose drips, but when I have a cold or the flu I need something softer. I go through the winter with a nose that has a permanent red glow on the sides from blowing. I’m thinking old school hankies might be the way to go.  I’m not grossed out by my own snot.  Someone else’s snot – yes, but I don’t plan on sharing.  We use cloth napkins, but we still have paper towel which is unnecessary.  These cloth hankies must be easy to make, if you have a sewing machine, which I don’t.  This family actually uses cloth wipes for going to the loo as well…I can’t say I’m at that point yet…  don’t think I ever will be, but I admire their determination to reduce!

(on the telephone)
Neal: Is Bob there?
Woman: No. I shot him.
Neal: … … Sorry? Is Bob there?
Woman: No! I shot him!
Neal: What?!
Woman: Haha. (phone clunking on table). BOB! BOB!! PHONE!!

i know that skype is nothing new; i’ve been using it for at least three years in both my personal life and my business life. but every once in a while i am reminded at just how cool it is. when you can sit for an hour and chat with your sister who is 7,625 km away from me (and 4.5 hours in time zone difference) and have it not cost you a cent; or when you can talk to a friend who you maybe haven’t spoken to in about 6 months because you couldn’t find the time…and then there they are on skype at the same time as you and whammo – before you know it you’ve been given a video tour of their new apartment!

technology is wicked.

and it makes it seem like home (in the sense of the people) is not that far away at all.

it’s been a looooong two weeks with ian out of town. he’s supposedly coming home tonight but of course the weather in montreal is bad so even though his flight from paris has landed there, the chances of him getting here without delays are pretty slim. i think that his flight is already delayed one hour… *sigh*

i actually have NOTHING to say. just… *sigh*.