Antsy

You know how when something happens that is unexpected and messes with your plans and then you have to spend time waiting, sometimes one gets antsy?  That explains my mode for the last week.  My new glasses are taking forever to arrive.  I finally got a tracking number, so they should arrive this week.  I am ready to move on, go somewhere, I was really only planning to stay with my sister for maybe a month and then find something else to do.  I was starting to make plans, I was going to leave here last week but then I broke my glasses, and since then I have been waiting for the new ones to arrive.  And that makes me antsy.

Also I think my little sister is torn.  She likes having me around because I cook and clean and I am really not that much of a bother.  On the other hand, I am an extra person in her space and just another thing to deal with at the end of a long day.  Although I do make it better in that I am willing to cook her dinner and will even make some of the what should we eat decisions when she is in the I don't care type mood.  Not sure about the brother-in-law, but get the feeling it is a very similar extra person in our space but she cooks for us internal debate.

Overall, definitely time for me to move on to something different and today I made plans.  I am leaving soon, I have signed up for a volunteer position working on a organic farm in Florida.  I think it will be interesting.  I will learn a lot and hopefully it will help me on my big quest to figure out what I want to do with myself in general.  It will also help me not spend money, as I will get food while there, which is exciting to me.

My quilting project is coming along.  I have finished all the embrodery on my blocks and am currently sewing them into a quilt top.  Very exciting.

Things I've learned by visiting the cold...

... that are common knowledge.

Doesn't matter how much traction your shoes have that ice hiding under the snow is slippery.

Snow can hide some very uneven ground, and fresh snow will let you sink straight to it.

Below freezing weather is fine if you are outside in less than five minute intervals.

Watching people drive on ice is hilarious.

When the roads are clear get out and do stuff, or you will regret it when the roads are not clear.

Any amount of snow or low temperatures can cause issues if it is more than usual for the area.  (ie, eight inches of snow in Maryland is bad and people don't get out; eight inches of snow in upstate New York, they don't notice and everyone goes about their daily routine.)

Wow salt is amazing.

Ice/snow sublimate in dry cold weather.  (Although, salt will make it melt, then pretty puddles.)

Memory foam is very solid when cold.

If the daytime temperatures don't spend much time above freezing, my drinking water will be frozen solid. Need to find some warmer weather and thaw out all that water.

Wow, bad me, no cookie...

...but there are brownies.  I keep not blogging.  Not dead yet.

Thursday and Friday of last week continued with the I'm not sure I can actually get out of here with the ice and stuff, so I read a book (or two.)

Saturday, I went out to an SCA event.  This wasn't an event I would drive all that far to and as it was only about 30 minutes away I thought why not.  It was a little event, a few merchants, a few classes, and a feast.  A nice person was doing henna, so I have a pretty design on my hand.  I couldn't eat the feast, as most everything had paprika or other nightshades, and I was thinking I might stay for the merriment and whatnot at the feast, unfortunately my tummy had other ideas.  It did not like the smells.  Someone had definitely bought new paprika and by the time court was over the entire hall smelled very strongly of paprika, or I'm just really sensitive to that smell.  I went to a couple classes, learned about a museum I want to go to (they have a byzantine collection).  Realized I have one giant flaw in my plan of being a wandering costumer, and that is the which name should I go by problem.  Blog is Vivian, SCA is Theodosia, which are not the same and thus I won't ever get a hey I read your blog type comment (which a little part of me secretly hopes for from someone I have just introduced myself to).  The other problem is they are different faces of me.  So I need to decide do I want to try and change the name of the person that is this blog author (looks like a ton of work) or do I want to try to introduce myself differently in the SCA.  I realized very quickly that in out in Caid, I did not want to go by my real name, so picked an new name, not so sure my real name would have the same problems elsewhere.  I don't know, need to think on it some more, before I go to another event.

Sunday, went to brunch with my sister and her Jewish grandmothers, adopted because everyone needs a Jewish grandmother.  They of course tried to fix my life, I realized I'm not quite ready for it to be fixed.

Monday, broke my glasses, ordered a new pair because the ones that I have left are the ones that make it so I really need to really pay attention when reading and doing close work because I will look under the lenses instead of through and then get eye strain headaches. After that was kinda in a mood and didn't really want to get out, so read a book. I really miss reading for fun.  And I am staying in my sister's library surrounded by books, so I am doing a little bit of it.

Tuesday, I did get myself up and out and I finally made it back to the zoo.  I drove to the nearest Metro station and took the metro.  Unfortunately after I got off the metro, I found that the escalator up was broken, I decided to go for it and started climbing it.  Things for future reference: it was probably equivalent to four or five flights of stairs with no landings, dude there is an elevator, dry plus cold plus exercise equals asthma attack, oh and escalator steps are higher than normal stairs.  I made it up, hit my inhaler, caught my breath, and had no problems then walking up the hill to the zoo.  Which was worth it because I got to see all three Pandas.  The new little one was curled up in a bowl and sleeping, couldn't see much, Mom was eating.

And the third was pacing.

I went and saw more of the inside animals as it was a nice brisk 20ish degrees out and a bunch of the animals are not let out when it gets that low, as they are not designed for the cold. 

From the zoo, I walked to the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.  The walk was nice and cold.  I appreciated the beauty of the area I walked through.  And after the escalator earlier appreciated the mostly downhill. 

Rock Creek Park

I was walking through Rock Creek Park and Potomac Parkway National Park, by my map reading I thought it was just another park, but then I saw the sign.  I would have appreciated the beauty anyway.  I really liked the way ice froze near the surface of the stream.  Appreciate the pretty picture above.  

This is a floor mosaic,look purple, green and white
together in art work.  

About Museum, small but awesome.  Sorry about the quality of some of the pictures, low light, plus no flash, means bad pictures.

Simple bead on wire necklaces.

One of the things that the collectors did was they collected things that they liked because they were different, then later they donated the entire house to be a museum.  So it is one of the more random collections, but also one of the more fun to me museums.  

Amethyst graduated biconical necklace  

Really were else can you go from Byzantine floor mosaics and jewelry to Mayan masks and sculpture to renaissance tapestries to Indiana Jones collectibles.  I went for the Byzantine stuff because I have a byzantine SCA name and want to know more.  The tapestries were a nice surprise because I do love them.
The first piece that I really liked was the floor mosaic above.  Not only is it my colors, it is also fun and spirally, and I looked at it and thought this should be a quilt.  I then read the blurb about it and it says that the middle section is how they represent gingham, which just makes it so much better.

Pretty Tapistry

There was also some nice simple jewelry that would be appropriate.  And then the tapestries, so hard to photograph, but the one I looked at and went, all you people that SCA in hot places need to see the sleeves on this houpelande.  That's right, she has none.  Just a short sleeve and then the blue sleeve is her underdress.  It is hard to tell in my picture, but looking it it in person I am almost certain that she only has the one sleeve on most of her arm.  I think I need to find more of these small collections where I can go and not get quite so overwhelmed.  Anyway, if you are in the DC area and need someplace to go for a couple hours the Dumbarton Museum and Gardens is a good choice.  Unfortunately the gardens were closed something about icy paths.

After the museum I walked down to the nearest metro station, it was a pretty walk this time through a neighborhood, some of the houses have cute little courtyards and then through town, past some of the embassies.  Nothing interesting going on there.

Wednesday and then today Thursday, I spent going ouch, I walked over five miles on Tuesday up and down hills, my muscles are not use to that, plus that stupid escalator equals one sore me. I thought I would try to get out and do something today and technically I did, I went to the grocery store.  It was needed and then I did more fun cooking.  Tonight was broccoli and cheddar quiche, yummy.  I also made more box brownies which are always good.  Been doing more reading and relaxing.   I should sew, I have a quilt to make and only half my blocks have their embrodery.  Need to find something on hulu to watch while I stitch.

Cold

Today was cold but as it isn't suppose to get above freezing this week, I decide to just bundle up and go out.  Also having woken up before the crack of dawn, I had time to figure out my day.  Unfortunately, the roads were still very icy and if it was only 5-10 feet to get out of the parking lot sure no problem I'll at least try, so I walked out to the main road and it had a nice packed layer of snow (also known as sheet of ice).  My truck doesn't get to go play today.  So an indoor day.  Not quite, as we kind of needed to at least make it to the store, my sister and I got into her car (all wheel drive) and went.  I felt it slipping along the road and am glad I didn't try with my little truck.  The cars external thermostat claimed it was a nice balmy 17 degrees Fahrenheit outside and this was the early afternoon so really not going to get much higher.

Me, I'm going a little stir crazy as I had big outside adventure plans that got canceled, so this evening I went for a little walk.  I bundled up in multiple layers of pants, extra layers of hat, nice long many wrapped scarf, snow boots and made my way down the road to the lake I heard tell about.  I learned the delicate balance of keeping nose warm and not fogging up glasses (no you don't get both.)

Look a path and sign, don't know what the sign says but I think there is a lake back there.

Look there is a lake, I think the surface is frozen, and I'm losing sunlight quickly, wind is getting stronger, and temperature is dropping, appreciate pretty winter and get back to the warmth of my sisters place. 

Appreciate the pretty art that mother nature gives us

Again more pretty, The Art of Winter.

Anyway as stated COLD, so trudged back up the hill, wanted to have snow shoes, because there can be a lot of uneven ground hiding under 8 inches of snow.  Successfully made it back to the house without falling, or getting too cold.  The kitty had not moved since I left and I leave you with this fun picture taken as I trudged back to my sisters place.

On the right, you can see my truck and the lovely not icy parking lot, and my sister's place in that row.  On the left the very icy main road that I would have to take to get out, and behind me (where clearly you can not see it) is more of that road and looks even more icy.  Maybe I can try again tomorrow.

I also worked on my quilt today.  I have been doing the embrodery step, I already did all the piecing, so of my 12 blocks all of which have some embrodery I now have 5 blocks completed, and number 6 is well on it's way, and will easily be done today.  I'm hoping to also get number 7 done today.

Math Conference plus things and stuff

I enjoyed the conference and listening to people talk about math in ways that excite them (even the dull talkers that I didn't understand most of, I could tell that the person talking very much liked their subject, even if they had absolutely no stage presence.)  My favorite talks were the Math and Art talks, with the history of Math ones coming in a fairly close second.  I also went to a wonderful talk about pi, yes the mathematical pi not the edible kind.  I now have many great ideas of things I want to do in the near future to bring more math into my own crafts (art, whatever you want to call it.) I also got a lot of hand work done.  I finished my crochet hat and worked on the embrodery of my quilt until I ran out of embrodery floss.  I then spent most the day Sunday sleeping as I hadn't gotten enough sleep the four days earlier (out of house by seven and not back until after ten means not enough sleep time.) Monday was spent in a no can not process new information state of need to play stupid computer games.

Today I'm back to normal (at least normal for me, which isn't very normal) and doing some more cooking.  Tonight I did some slow cooker bbq chicken (with my persimmon based bbq sauce, and I think it is delicious and there are left overs for sandwiches, yum.  I also made some lemon currant muffins, which I'm not sure I like the recipe I found online.  The batter ended up very dry and I had to add just a little more liquid just to get it to mix, plus it called for a whole tablespoon of baking powder, which just sounds like too much.  Zesting lemon with just a knife is hard.  Also could only find a six muffin tin so there are muffins and a mini loaf.  I am down to only one lemon of the bag I brought with me so I don't think I'll be trying again, as I am very much liking lemon water to drink.  The end result, DRY.  Not sharing the recipe as they turned out much more like a scone, and when I eat my left overs I will keep that in mind.  

I also was a lot tired at the end of the week and that means will power was at a low, so I ate foods that I really should not have eaten.  Things for me to remember, yes nightshades still make my insides unhappy, and my skin very itchy.  And really it's not worth it.  I had been getting so nice and not itchy by avoiding all trace amounts, and now I itch.  So my back to normal is except itchy at this point.

I still dislike the cold, and am really glad that there wasn't any snow during the conference.  It is back today and snowing very nicely at that, enough to get my sister sent home from work.  It's very pretty but not much fun.

For those curious, the truffles turned out good.  I am in love with the almond ones and want to try to make Nutella except with almond instead of hazelnut (wait the internet informs me Hershey's has read my mind before I even thought of it, they have a chocolate with almond spread, how do they keep doing that? I mean I at one time put some of their cinnamon baking chips in oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and it added a whole new dimension but chocolate almond spread is just genius, I'm going to have to try it.)  The orange ones are yummy, and I was not as lazy when trying to make small balls of the inside goo, so turned out the most regular shaped and the right size.  The vanilla ones have a bit too much vanilla but over time they have mellowed well or I just have gotten use to it.

Anyway I'm need to get back to hiding from the cold, figuring out where I'm going (the answer is south, Florida looks good, anyone there, or at least south of DC, need some garb sewn?) and doing embrodery.

I like cooking

I like cooking, especially if people have ideas of what they want.  I don't mind all that much if they have no idea and are the type that eats whats in front of them either (as long as it meets dietary restrictions).   I am trying my hand at many different things.  The no nightshade thing makes it really hard to go out to eat, especially for me and the trace amounts.  I have been doing so much better now that I have been avoiding even trace amounts (much easier in "own" kitchen, and not going out as much.) Dinner tonight was an experiment, I found this recipe online and I just had to try it.  I have had something similar at an SCA feast a few years back, and I knew there must be a recipe somewhere, so I googled and found one.  I do prefer recipes where I'm not leaving something out or making a substitution on my very first attempt.  It turned out fairly good, next time I want to make my own whole wheat crust (I cheated and used store bought crusts) and toss all the filling ingredients together before putting in the pie for a more flavorful chicken.  Tomorrow we get to see if it is as good cold, as the recipe says it is good either hot or cold.

When I first got here I made my Vivian safe BBQ sauce this time using persimmons that I had brought with me, from a friends tree out in California (at least the ones I hadn't eaten during the drive out.)  I think I like it better with apricot but since it is not stone fruit season the persimmons make a decent substitute, and now I have enough to last me until summer.  The texture just isn't as smooth, and I pureed those persimmons, then let them cook and then took the immersion blender to it, which helped a ton.  I also made some Meyer lemon marmalade with the lemons from my mom's tree, canned up a bunch and still have a decent sized bowl in the fridge, unfortunately my impatience got the better of me and I didn't quite allow it to cook long enough.  Still delicious but a tiny bit more of the bitter taste than I like.  I'll still eat it and the stuff I canned is still going to go on the road with me and get eaten because marmalade.  I had a few lemons left over and have slowly been using them to give a little flavor to my water.  OMG am I drinking a ton more water, the air is so much drier than I am use to.  Squeezing just a little lemon into the water makes it taste so much better to me that I am keeping hydrated.

I'm also trying my hand at the Field's family truffle recipe that was shared with me before I left California.  Today I made the insides, and have set them to cool.  Tomorrow I get to dip them in chocolate and decorate, I'm hoping it goes well.  As it is chocolate there is very little I could do to make it so no one around here would eat it, and have had to tell the humans to not eat my chocolate until I have finished making them.  Maybe if they turn out pretty you will get pictures, but I'm not a big believer in taking pictures of my food type person so I might forget.

Quilting and the Zoo

This weekend my sister and I have been quilting.  For a bit early on Saturday I was helping her with her quilt, but then I finally went and dug out the box of unfinished projects that I brought with me (the rule was any unfinished project that I don't work on before getting home, will have to find a new home.) And started working on my quilt project.  It is one of those Joann's quilt block projects that I bought on super clearance when one of the Joann's near me was going out of business; It has twelve wonderfully spring filled blocks that are full of applique and embroidery, but not a lot of piecing.  Yesterday I got all of my applique bits traced and cut out and placed and ironed down.  Today I did all of my piecing.  This week embroidery, I might even take it to the math conference.  We did take some time out of our quilting to do something else; we went to the zoo.  Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to go back because the Panda exhibit was members only today.  But look a bear (and me):

First day actually in DC.

Smithsonian Castle

So yesterday was scheduled to be a nice crisp sunny winter day, and thus I planned my first excursion into the city.  I got my brother-in-law to drop me at the nearest metro station and took the metro into town.  Coming up out of the metro tunnel, I only knew basically where I was.  I was somewhere near the national mall and a couple blocks south.  My directional sense can get messed up down in those tunnels on the train, so I follow the crowd to the outside world.  I head in what I think is a northernly direction, only to discover that it was actual east when I caught a quick glimpse of the top of the capitol building.  Woohoo now I was oriented.  And I made my way to the national mall and the Smithsonian Castle.  It had a small sampling of a little bit from all the different museums which was somewhat nice, also since it was a bit before ten yet the other places weren't open.  Then I started down the mall, the first museum was the Hirshhorn Museum.  It had an interesting display about The Art of Destruction.  I was slightly disappointed in that a lot of it was more Destruction as art.  I find that there is a large difference here, the first is the looking at an accidentally destroyed piano and seeing the art to how it fell and the second is going out and destroying a piano with a sledge hammer and calling it art.  I like the first much better than the second.  It did have an interesting display about Hiroshima.  Unfortunately half of the museum was closed for renovation.

So on down the mall I want.  I spent the rest of the day here (close to six hours):

Air and Space Museum

They have some interesting things from the Wright brothers original flyer to an entire exhibit on the history of navigation; The parts I enjoy the most are of course are space related.  Just outside there was a group of volunteers looking at sunspots.  Unfortunately the clouds were not cooperating, although I did catch a quick glimpse of some nice spots.   I was reminded of why museums on weekdays are not necessarily a good thing; all those children running around.  I very much giggled at all the little changes that they made to their exhibit on the planets after Pluto got demoted to a Dwarf planet.  Only some parts of the exhibit have been completely reworked, and it is much less noticeable, whereas others have just had a sentence added or the spot at the front of the exhibit where there are pictures of all the planets plus an empty space for Pluto.  One spot it looked like they decided to add all the other dwarf planets and remake Pluto's tag, as these parts appeared much newer. I really tried not to giggle out loud.  Also the scale model outside still includes Pluto, now as a dwarf planet; I hope they add more about the Oort cloud.  Overall a great day was had.  Also we need to make it more socially acceptable to wear layers on our legs, as my legs were cold from where my sweatshirt ended, all the way down to the tops of my socks when I was outside, but if I had long underwear on I probably would have been too warm while inside.
 
After I was finished I appreciated the pretty sunset from the mall, realized I had had enough standing and walking for one day (plus the other museums I want to go to are closing soon) and took the metro back to my sisters.

Capitol Building at sunset

Washington Monument at Sunset

Clearly I like sunsets, but the temperature was dropping fast, and my nose was cold.

Today has been spent as a quite day at my sister's letting my feet recover and curling up under the covers with a kitty and a book.  There is just enough rain to make me not want to go out in it.

Visiting my little sister

I am now at my little sister's place.  Friday night I helped her finish putting together the futon for her library/guest room.  Saturday and Sunday I spent moving furniture and books, and finally unpacking some of the books, only about two thirds had been unpacked.  Now the library feels much more like a library.  I'm still working to get all the boxes that ought to be up in the office up in the office, my knees do not like the stairs; going up them with a box of books is hard, there is also the bringing different boxes down, not everything got put in the right place when moved.  One flight no problem, it's that second flight.  Plus trying to be nice to the brother in law and not bother him too much.

I do not like this cold thing.  It's fine if it is just around freezing and I only need to go out for a few minutes, but I want to go and see things in DC, and to do that I need to drive to the nearest metro station (15 miles) and take the metro into town.  Then I'll be walking all over town.  I would like it to be above freezing, as that I can handle, cold but not as dangerously cold.  So today I have spent making friends with my sisters cats.  Ginger is a vary friendly cat and will love all the humans that come visit.  Heidi is an appropriately named cat who hides from anything and everything; she is a scared little cat.  Heidi has come and sniffed my hand and I even got half a scratch behind her ear before she ran away.

Ginger, Why aren't you petting me?

Heidi, Maybe you are ok, but reach to pet me and I will bolt.

Must head south after the Math conference.  This east coast weather does not act like I expect; the weather is not coming off the ocean like it does out in California.  Need to plan a southwards meander.

I have also solved the why is this room so cold problem.  Someone closed all the vents in the basement (which is where the library is, more the bottom level of a three level town house, which means no warm air was getting here.  I have opened them and now I can try to read a book while not being huddled down in an warm cozy blanket and hoodie and having cold fingers.  Am still going to huddle up but my fingers are not so cold now.