Dear World,

I HAS A KITTEN.

She is lovely and tiny and really kinda needs a name.

Currently in the running:

Pepper (as in Potts, or as in Pippin Galadriel Moonchild)
Lucy (as in Lucy Pevensie or Lucifer)
Ada (as in Lovelace)
Schwa (as in the phonetic symbol)

The Students (I do love them so) came up with Pepper and Schwa, Ada is Esteban's, and Lucy is mine. Any thoughts? Votes?

The Kitten is mostly off-white tabby with Siamese points. She is talkative and given to attacking my feet at five in the morning. There is nothing that she loves more than STRING.

Please, O Mystical Friendslist, help me choose a name for Kitten! (I can't call her "Girl" forever!)

ANYONE WHO IS IN THE SANTA CRUZ CELTIC MUSIC SCENE:

DAVID BREWER AND JAY SALTER ARE TALKING AGAIN. WTF.

(To anyone who isn't: this is vaguely on the scale of the Montagues and the Capulets deciding to be best buds *before* the end of Romeo and Juliet.)

Okay, guys.

I am going to enter a spinning competition.

(It's at the Santa Cruz County Fair on Saturday, September 19, at 1:00. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO COME.)

In case anyone is wondering: camp is fine. The fires are many miles away and moving away from us (unless, of course, the winds change.)

If we become trapped and are forced to eat the campers, I'll let you know! Cell reception and internet up here are both really kind of awful, so it may take me a while to get back to people. I'll be back in town on Saturday!

Hi all!

Sorry for the late notice, but Daniel and I will be having our annual birthday bash this weekend! It will be on Sunday, June 21, from 12-8. Yes, we know that it's father's day, but Daniel isn't in town for long.

Daniel is turning 21 (oh god no), and I am turning 24 (AAAAAAH)!! Thus, we are having a shindig in celebration of these facts (dueling is optional). All y'all are welcome to come; please bring foodage or beverageage. You can also bring things to grill, because Daniel will be cooking. We will be providing cake and some meat things, but would love for people to bring other food. Musician-types are encouraged to bring instruments (because really, we should be at camp!)

The party will take place at our parent's place in Santa Cruz; please let me know (comment here or call) if you need the address.

There will be an optional Solstice ritual during the party.

As a reminder: yes, Daniel is turning 21. But please be aware that there will be underaged people in attendance, so be cautious in your boozing.

If you can see this, you're invited! Please let us know if you're planning to come, but we do welcome other guests and last-minute additions.

So, um, does anyone want some chicken broth?

I managed to make... oh, slightly under two gallons of it tonight. I have three big mason jars and one small jar in the fridge, and three ziplock bags in the freezer. I'm giving away two jars (one big, one small) and one bag to the first commenters who a) want it, and b) can make it to Santa Cruz/Campbell.

ETA: I totally, um, posted this recipe a month ago, but slightly different. I forgot the garlic this time, and my leeks had gone bad. Still! This remains a good recipe.

( Recipe Here! )

I also finally used the food processor I got for Christmas! I made pesto to go with the pasta-and-chicken that we ate for dinner. It was very, very tasty.

Mmkay, enough food-blogging for one night. I have lesson plans to write! Woo!

E-mail I just got from a student: "Hi i'm just checking in to make sure you arent dying or anything..."

Aah, teaching. (I have a cold, and didn't want to spread it more, and am feeling blechy, so I went home at around 10:30 this morning. I have spent all day in bed, and it is *lovely.*)

(I have also been re-reading all of my old Mercedes Lackey books. I just finished Magic's Promise; I AM NOW SHIPPING VANYEL/JARVIS WTF. PLS SEND HELP.)

Mm, recipe post!

( Pancakes! )

I spent about four hours grocery shopping with intarwebz8myhw and iambickilometer on Saturday; we started at the westside Farmer's Market (salmon, lettuce, carrots, spinach, ranunculas), then drove up 1 until we hit Pie Ranch; we got there before they were open, so we followed intarwebz8myhw's directions until we reached Harley Farms, home of THE MOST ADORABLE KIDS IN THE WORLD (and by kids, I do mean baby goats.) THEY WERE SO CUTE AND THEY TRIED TO EAT EVERYTHING INCLUDING CHARLIE. Then I bought, um, five different kinds of goat cheese. I guess I know what I'll be eating for lunch this week!

Stopped by Swanton Berry Farm on the way back down to SC; I had boysenberry cobbler (DELICIOUS), intarwebz8myhw had strawberry shortcake with some very early berries, and iambickilometer bought jam with the promise of reimbursement.

Back in Santa Cruz, we went to the new location of the westside New Leaf (IT'S HUUUUUGE), then the River Cheese Shop and Cafe, and finally to Santa Cruz's brand new Whole Foods.

*gets on soapbox* I think, given that Santa Cruz already has many, many local awesome grocery stores, there's no reason to shop at somewhere that's really corporate organic. I realize that they seem to try to support local growers, but given that they're two blocks from Shopper's, and about three from Staff of Life-- well, it really feels like the time that Crown said that they were going to put Bookshop out of business. I'm sure that it's awesome, I know that it will bring in more jobs, I know that it will bring in things that aren't currently available in SC (like ostrich eggs!), but please, people, *shop* local, too. *steps off soapbox.*

...I really need a food icon. :)

Meme!

Comment and I will give you five things I associate you with. Then, expand on your own journal!!

1. Hammer Dulcimer

I played the hammer(ed) dulcimer for... six years? I still have one that I pull out every summer. I lovelovelove the hammered dulcimer-- once I have more space, I think I'll start playing again.

2. WHY DID YOU SHOW ME THIS AWESOME THAT NOW I MUST SEE/BUY/READ ALL OF???!!!111

I am very proud of my status as enabler of my friends' addictions. :) To date, I have introduced people to Criminal Minds, Stargate: Atlantis, Bones, Supernatural, Torchwood, Dr. Who.... and more.

3. Fiber arts (especially knitting)

Interesting-- although I definitely think of myself as a fiber artist, I don't consider myself primarily a knitter. I spin, weave, knit, crochet, felt... SO MUCH FIBER, OMG. But not like that.

4. lolspeak

CAN HAS. I did once develop an entire unit on teaching dialect through LOLcats. It was awesome, but unfortunately didn't meet any of the California Educational Standards.

5. "There's this one fic..."

I have, quite possibly, read a fic about everything. ....yeah. I've tried to stop bringing fics up quite so much in conversation, because I realise that, um, not everyone wants to hear about the SGA fic where they're Girl Scout Cookies.

If my school expelled for plagiarism, one third of one of my classes would be gone.

...we had a little chat today about academic honesty and what, precisely, is meant by "in your own words." I had three students tell me that they had "forgotten to put in quotation marks." THREE.

In other, sillier, news, several of the eighth grade girls are doing a comedy video about the Duggar family, and it is hilarious.

No blog tonight. Me and bed are the best of friends.

Foodblog, day two!

Behind the cut: sammiches and pasta!

( Sunday )

Also, Castle!! Nathan Fillion! Comedy! CRIME COMEDY!! I won't have to rely entirely on Bones for my crime-related giggles any more!!

Having spent all afternoon/evening reading food blogs, I think I'm going to try to blog about the food that I eat this week. I'll be lj-cutting the entries, so there shouldn't be much to worry about if you don't want to read about my food.

I'll include recipes as I go.

( Saturday )

I am also considering doing a week of local food-- that is, not eating anything grown more than 100 miles away. There is a certain amount of leeway (for example, you can buy bread from a local bakery, but if you make your own, it should be made with local flour), but I think that in a place like Santa Cruz it should be fairly easy. I'd love to have a "buddy" to do this with-- I'm probably not going to do it until April, when I have my next break, so if anyone's interested, let me know!

Because I have this week off, I have decided to cook lots of things! Tonight I made spaghetti and an apple galette, both of which were quite good. I used Shopper's Corner's Italian Sausage instead of my usual ground beef in the spaghetti sauce, which ended up really tasty. I had decided that I wanted to make a galette earlier in the day; since many fruits aren't in season right now (aside from citrus, that is), I decided to make an apple galette.

A galette is essentially a cheater-pie: they're smaller, take waaaay less work, and take less time to bake. The most time-consuming part of this was waiting for the dough to chill. You can probably do without, but I was kinda following a recipe (ish. in a way.), so I wanted to follow those directions. So! For those of you who want it: My ( Apple Galette Recipe! )

Other recipes available on request. :)

Hello, world!

So, a few months ago, neroticknitter and I started a craftblog: Wildwood Yarn. Now that there's actual content (pictures! reviews! information!) I feel good about linking all y'all to it.

Also, I know that Ria may be planning to have a craft day on Sunday, February 15. Is there anyone who would be interested? She has enough space that people can bring sewing machines or what have you-- we usually craft and watch DVDs, and eventually order pizza or make noodles. It's great fun!

Anyway, that's about all I have to say-- work has been work, and aside from this year's normal levels of crazy (which are about ten times higher than last year's, at least in the office), things are good. The seventh graders seem to be mildly enjoying the History of English unit, which is nice.

So how are all of you?

This is probably only interesting to people who go/have gone to camp, but hey!

If Celtic Camp was a fandom...

( The things I do instead of sleeping... )

Okay: FRIDAY is the day for the workshop. Sorry for the late notice.

Hanna-- if you want to let your mother know that she is welcome to come, just have her give me a call to confirm, please.

Emma-- come whenever you're done with your marine creatures!

Okay, so! Enough people want to do the bookbinding workshop that I am going to go ahead and

Time: 10:00 a.m. to around 6 p.m.-- it may end earlier or later, I'm not sure.

Date: Either Thursday or Friday, January 1 or 2. It depends on which day more people are available.

Location: my house by the boardwalk-- let me know if you need more specific instructions.

Goal: Over the course of the day, we will make two books: one perfect-bound (single sheets glued together), with a soft cover, and one sewn on tapes. Both books should be finished by the end of the day. If there is time, I may also go over how to format and print a book from the comfort of your very own laptop. :)

Cost: $10, for materials and time. All materials will be provided. You may also want to bring lunch; however, if everyone wants to bring a few dollars, we could order pizza or something. If you can't afford to pay, I'm totally willing to discuss trade. I like trade.

To sign up: please leave a comment here. I'd like to limit this to no more than six people; if it goes well and there is continued interest, I will offer it again on a weekend. Spots are reserved right now for blackbirdsings5, diminishedsheep, sedesdraconis, and _octobersunrise, as well as Tyler and possibly Charlie, depending on how many of them can make it. Other than that, spots are on a first-comment, first-accepted basis.

Even if you have already expressed interest, comment here again to tell me which day will work better for you. Thanks!

If I were to have a very tiny bookbinding workshop before the end of winter break (that is, before Monday, January 5), who would be interested? If I get enough interest, I'll write up something more descriptive, but I imagine it would be a most-of-the-day workshop, and you'd probably finish one or two books during that time.