Prufrock and Hedgie

IMG_2994

Originally uploaded by apricotta

Prufrock likes to sit on Hedgie, the inflatable hedgehog from Ikea.

Oops.

I guess I messed up NoBloPoMo. Ah, well.

I have been super busy! I took the GRE on Saturday. Now I never have to worry about it again! That was taking up a lot of mental real-estate, and I feel much more relaxed now. I got a very, very good score on the Verbal section, which is the only part that matters for me, and a pretty bad but not god-awful score on the Quantitative section.

I’m also working on some mitts, or fingerless gloves. Wow! Knitting content! I usually don’t know fast enough to make knitting content worthwile.

I made it to match the hat I made with Ysolda Teague’s Gretel pattern. I’m about halfway through the second one. It’s very cozy!

Just another day

Poo! I almost forgot to post today. I skipped classes and holed up in the library to study for the GRE. I am nervous about it but I think it will be fine. I am doing great on the Verbal section, and that is the most important part for me, along with the Analytical. I know I’ll score low on the math section, but that doesn’t matter so much.
A huge bunch of black students joined up and marched around the quad today. They had signs and were cheering and singing. It was pretty cool. A lot of happy people today, except for Proposition 8 passing. I can’t believe that many people think it’s okay to amend the California constitution to keep couples from making a legal commitment to each other. I don’t know why we can’t separate civil marriages from religious marriages in this country. Maybe that would be seperate but equal, but I would rather have that than nothing.

I made a schedule for tomorrow so I get lots of studying and cleaning done. Just a minute for the internet, so hopefully I’ll remember to post!

Election Day!

Here are James and I leaving the polling place. It was at an elementary school a short walk from our apartment. I thought I would take some pictures and do a photo tour of my neighborhood.

This is one of the beautiful old houses in my neighborhood. My neighborhood is called Boulevard Park.

These are the railroad tracks that cross midtown between 19th and 20th streets.

After we voted we walked up 19th street to Starbucks for a free cup of coffee!

When we got to the counter the girl said “Are you here for your free voter coffee?”

Crossing the tracks again.

This is the grassy median that divides 21st Street. You can see the edge of the “Boulevard Park” sign.

A cat named Maury lives at this house.

Home again!

Election Day tomorrow!

I can’t wait to vote tomorrow. A few Propositions are no-brainers — no on 8 and 4! — but I’m still undecided on a few others. Time to get out the voter handbook.

NaBloPoMo!

I have a blog this year, so I can do National Blog Posting Month. Thanks for the reminder, Pat! Hi!

I’m a day late. I hope that’s okay. Here is my profile: http://nablopomo.ning.com/profile/apricotta

Back to homework and GRE studying. I’ll post again later in the day.

Bike rides

James and I went for a long bike ride today. Here is a link to our route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2255614 We took the bike path from the entrance near our apartment to Discovery Park and the river, then down the river to the Sacramento Marina (which I didn’t even know was there!) and then to the post office before we went home. When we got home it was time to pick up our CSA box from Eat Well Farm, so we biked over there too! It was about 17 miles total. I forgot the camera so we don’t have any pictures!

We also took a long bike ride on Tuesday. We went up the American River Bike Trail to Watt Avenue and then back again, with stops at the post office and the library at the UC Davis Med Center on the way. I did remember the camera, so we have some pictures. Here is a link to the path for this trip: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2255635

Later that evening I finished the back of James’ new sweater. It looks so pretty!

View from the Trail, J Street bridge in the distance.

On the trail

James at the Howe Ave boat landing

I finished the back of James’ sweater

We’re going to bike to Davis some time next week. It’s only a couple of weeks until school starts so we’ve got to get in shape!

Lazy day

James and I drove to Davis today to drop off a recalled library book, and to look at our books for next quarter. I bought a few books, but some will be less expensive on Amazon. I’m most looking forward to my seminar on Early Modern medicine. We’re reading Don Quixote and ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore, among others.
Time to start dinner! We’re having ground turkey stroganoff and the plum crumble I made on Sunday. I’ll try to take pictures.

New Skirt Monday

I’m trying to use up some of my fabric stash, and thought this pretty cotton would make a nice wrap skirt. I started this around 9:30 tonight, and now I have a new skirt!

James is a good assistant.

The kittens held the fabric down for me.

All done!

Annabelle kept my seat warm for me.

It’s kind of hard to tell from the picture, but the fabric is a light block-print cotton. It has a sort of Indian-ish pattern. I wish it was a little more full, but I’m pretty happy with it.

No Knead Bread

I never published this! This is the No-Knead Bread I made last summer. The instructions were in the New York Times, based on Jim Lahey’s recipe. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

Just after mixing. Ready for the 12 hour+ rise.

After the first rise.

Punched down and ready for a second rise.

Baked in my enameled cast-iron Le Creuset pot.

Ready to eat!

Hey!

Hee. I haven’t made it since then, but I have made other bread in my Kitchen Aid. I made some regular bread yesterday but didn’t take pictures. I’ll have to take some next time.