Radio Silence

It has been over a week since my last post. Radio Silence. What a week it has been! I'm sure there was a week in my life that had more stress or more tasks or more emotion. There has to have been. Perhaps it was that week in 1996 when I had a benign lump removed from my breast 2 days before a hurricane blew through and we lost power while I was recovering. It could have been the week in 1999 when we moved to North Carolina from Texas. That was a long week with us loading up a moving truck and driving two different vehicles across half the country only to arrive at midnight to an empty house and a full week of rain. I don't know. The week I broke my leg and had surgery to repair it then had a party with 40 guests into my home was a bit crazy. Granted that was a pretty easy party all I did was direct traffic from my couch throne.

Last Saturday Kam was stung by a hornet. Her hand and arm swelled to twice the normal size and she ended up at the ER. She is fine now after a week on steroids to bring the swelling down. On The Fourth of July we started having car trouble. That same Saturday the mechanic said I needed to add Sea Foam (I'm sure it is spelled differently but in my mind all sea foam is greenish blue and blows down the beach when the wind is high) to the gas tank and drive it until the check engine light came on. I can tell you I was not interested in driving around aimlessly. I had knitting to do. Fortunately the engine was so unhappy the light came on with a few short errands. On Tuesday the car was fixed enough that we were told to drive it until the check engine light comes back on and then we can determine what might be happening now. Wednesday I went to Charlotte for a product training that was amazing and full of information on bone and joint health. Crazy sleep there though because the hotel room was noisy with the AC coming on and off. Not just my room but the AC from the room next door kept me up. Then the food was weird in the morning. I have learned over and over that I must bring breakfast for myself. I cannot count on finding "real" food. sigh  Thursday was a great day. Laughter and home and all was due to be perfect for the rest of the week. I planned a fun afternoon run for Friday and a relaxing weekend mixed with outdoor exercise and knitting. Friday morning it started raining. Then the battery light came on in the car. Weird thing was the charge dropped when the car was put in gear. Yeah. The car is down again. Waiting. Waiting for something. Not a new battery. That was replaced last winter when we experienced the insane cold. Apparently car batteries don't like being exposed to -10 windchill any more than humans. I resigned myself to the car not working and thought I'd catch up on some bookkeeping. I sat to the computer and the keyboard went out. Just the battery but very eerie when you think about what was going on with the car. When I replaced the batteries in the keyboard the whole computer shut itself down. Fortunately it came back on and posed no further trouble. Oh...I almost forgot...Tuesday Kam replaced the washer. She and our son Geoff went to pick up the new washer at 8 pm. They brought it home and hooked it up. It had a factory defect. Instead of putting water into the wash tub it put water onto the floor. They returned it and hooked up a new one on Wednesday. To get the magical new one though Kam had to spend over 30 minutes on the phone with customer service and speak to 5 different people.

Needless to say I was busy this past week. I was a bit stressed for creative thought. I was also in need of a break from interacting with the world. I knew I needed to get back to writing. I chose instead to continue my silence and extend it a bit. I unplugged myself completely from the internet. What a welcome relief. I'm not sure about my reentry. It is happening. It will have to be a slow one. I'm dipping my toe in, just bit by bit. I am ready to start sharing my meals again. I needed inspiration. I needed new display dishes. I want shopping! Who doesn't like a few new dishes to perk up the kitchen boredom?

My Sunday morning started a bit late. I slept in. With all the rain this weekend I found sleep just a bit too inviting and indulged in a Sunday morning rest. Breakfast wasn't easy in the house. No car for a few days meant no groceries. Fortunately (or not depending on how you view the situation) Kam had rented a car to attend her father's 86th birthday party on Saturday (Oh...did I forget to mention that detail?) and we still had use of it. We opted for breakfast out at Whole Foods before purchasing food for the week. I ate most of it before remembering to take a picture. What did I eat? A yummy frittata made with eggs, cheese, turkey bacon, bell peppers, and new potatoes on top of a bed of spinach. I had some fresh fruit on the side, just a few bites of pineapple and honeydew melon. Kam wanted me to share this picture.

Lunch was a bit of roast turkey. My master plan for protein this week was to roast a turkey so there was meat ready for every meal. By Sunday we were feeling the same way about turkey as you do in late November. We sauteed green beans in some garlic olive oil, steamed baby carrots, and made an oil and vinegar coleslaw from a baby cabbage to go along with the turkey. 

For my afternoon snack all I wanted was some fresh berries with nuts. Kam wasn't impressed. She made me eat more turkey first. I'll spare you the picture. It is about as uneventful as eating it was. 

Dinner was fabulous!! I roast a boneless lamb roast, sweet potato, and asparagus. We had more of the fresh coleslaw with it. The flavors were amazing!

Crafting in the week? Oh, YES! I have been quite productive! I finished 3 socks, have one just over an inch from complete, another ready for the heel gusset, and have spun up 3 ounces of wool and am working on plying it now. Productivity has been wonderful. I might really need to consider this as I move back into my internet world. 

The handspun merino is on the left. The cob web laceweight indie dye is on the right. The center is the two plied together or to be honest in process of being plied together. I should mention the spindle on the left broke today. I still have over an ounce of merino to spin. I dropped the silly thing. I've dropped them before. This one hasn't been used much. It bounced and the hook broke from the top. 

This pair was in process. I had one complete and was working on the next. I'm happy to say the pair is finished!

I started this sock on the Saturday when Kam was bit. It is a differently constructed sock. It starts at the toe and works sideways around the foot and up the leg. The pattern is Skew from Knitty.com. It fits perfectly. I understand there are plenty of knitters who have trouble with it though. I have smallish ankles. I think that is why it fist so well. When I have the two knit I'll share a photo of the pair actually on feet. The heel construction is amazing!

I have the second of these socks almost ready for the ribbing on the cuff. They have been so much fun to knit!

And finally I started this pair on Thursday. Another faster than anticipated knit. The yarn really makes the stitches pop!

Midweek Crazies!

Thursday was busy. Many clients, my own workout, and the random business that is life. With all that I neglected to post my Wednesday meals. Sorry. Wednesday was just as busy as Thursday. I woke super hungry and by the time I remembered I needed a picture of my breakfast it was already in my stomach. Not to worry. It wasn't fancy or full of extensive complicated recipes. Just a basic turkey burger with a green salad. A rather large turkey burger because I was super hungry and needing the protein for recovery from my Tuesday workout.

I made a one pot lunch that covered lunch and an afternoon snack. I like one pot meals for the ease of clean up. This one was similar to chili. Kam wanted to know what I called it. It really isn't chili but close so I told her it was Whitish Chili. It stuck. How did I make it? Sliced scallion, jalapeno pepper and garlic sauteed in coconut oil. When they were almost cooked through I added 3/4 of a pound of ground turkey to it (remember I had that burger in the morning so there wasn't a full pound). After that was browned I added diced zucchini squash, fresh corn cut off the cob and cannellini beans. I used 2 tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of oregano and 1 tsp of thyme. To give moisture I added in a cup of water then covered and cooked until the squash was done.

After work I sliced up squash, cabbage and Italian sausage. I drizzled it with olive oil and put it on jelly roll pan in a single layer. I roasted it at 430 for 20 minutes. Simple all one dish cooking and satisfied all my veggie and protein needs. I had a bit of a sweet tooth so after I had an apple with peanut butter. 

Thursday morning was my second kettle bell workout with Bengi. I started my day with an Awake shot and an ounce of walnuts. I'm doing my workout first thing in the morning but really need to eat before I workout. A full breakfast would make me sick so I'm opting for a simple snack like meal. 

After workout I tossed veggies and chicken into the oven while I showered. I had less than an hour between the end of my workout and my next client. I had to make every minute count. 

Lunch was 4 oz of steak under the broiler and 2 cups of fresh kale. 

My snack was a fresh pear and an ounce of Brazil nuts.

After work Kam and I enjoyed a late night meal. I made bison turkey bacon burgers. I chopped up the bacon, some scallions and parsley. I mixed this all in with the ground bison and fried them in a pan in coconut oil. I think they were the best tasting burgers I've had in forever.  

Knitting progress? Wednesday I went to the laundromat...long story there...and knit on the Stitch Surfer socks. Thursday I managed lots of cardio knitting. I walked to and from the gym quite a few times. I had a client do a no-show on me so I spent half an hour on the bike knitting. Then I spent a bit of time in the evening knitting. It all totaled up to almost a complete sock. Here is the sock "knit in the wild" while cardio knitting.

And here it is just before I picked it up again yesterday.

Visitors!

Yesterday was one crazy day in the gym! Bengi (my son who is one of our trainers here at The Fire) arrived at 6:10 am to train his 6:30 group class. He was surprised by two raccoons! They had dropped into the gym through one of the office ceiling tiles. He tried to get them out. They were spooked of course. One hid in the bathroom and the other tried to climb the wall at the other end of the gym. They were finally trapped into the bathroom while someone was called to come catch them. Those clever things climbed out of the bathroom! They stood on the hot water heater and popped out through the ceiling tiles! There is a live trap set up where they entered. One was caught this morning and we hope the other will be trapped by tomorrow. It did make for a crazy stressful day though. That is my excuse for not posting my Sunday meals. I think it is good enough.

Sunday morning breakfast? I started with apple, yogurt and chopped nuts. Then I had steamed spinach (two cups but wow does it "melt" when it is steamed) and turkey bacon. Lots of protein here!

Lunch was roasted purple potatoes, wedge salad, raw sugar snap peas, and a bit of grass fed steak. I love potatoes. I rarely buy them. I know exactly why I don't bring them into the house! I had them 3 times in 48 hours! Talk about no self control!

Dinner was different. My younger son and his wife joined us for dinner. We chose to do take out from a local noodle shop. Not the best choice for me. Mari likes it though and I wanted to go with one of her favorites. I needed to make a better choice from the menu. I chose Thai Basil Noodles. They are rice noodles with chicken, veggies, and basil. It is spicy and yummy. It is not glycemically balanced. I was hungry soon after and very sleepy.

For a late night extra meal I had flash grilled salmon on a bed of spinach. Then half an apple with a spoon of yogurt and walnuts. This helped curb the incredible hunger.

Monday's meals were a bit more on track! Except of course for the excessive use of potatoes. sigh  Breakfast was chicken breast, roasted potatoes, spinach and fresh sliced tomato. It held me for a couple of hours in the gym then I needed a snack. 

Snack time? Apple and peanut butter fix! The dogs really wanted me to share. I didn't. I was hungry.

Lunch was a bit late since my snack was late. It is funny how those late meals keep getting later as the day goes by. Kam and I shared the last of her iceberg kick, a beautiful avocado, roasted broccoli, and a bison burger. 

We were at the gym until late. Dinner was very late. In a perfect world I'm done eating by 7:30. Yesterday I was sitting down to a meal at 8:30. Oh well. It was tasty. I roasted up the last of the potatoes. Thank goodness those potatoes are gone. They kept taunting me. I split a chicken breast butterfly style and coated it with basil and thyme then broiled it. I had fresh sliced tomatoes and organic radish slices as a salad. Then followed it up with an pear topped with yogurt and nutmeg.

And what about the knitting? On Sunday I reached the 75% mark on a big project. I started in April knitting 8 pair of socks. Sunday evening I completed the 12th sock! Now looking at the picture you will notice that the green striped socks are not in it. They are not part of this project. They are a bonus pair. All totaled I have actually knit 16 socks since April first. Only 12 of them count though. 

Monday I debated. I thought maybe I might just spin some yarn instead of knitting more socks. I finally went for the sock knitting adventure yet again. I cast on in the afternoon and had half the foot finished by bed time. It is the mate to one in the photo above.

What happened Friday??

Oh yes. Friday. That would be the day I somehow forgot to take pictures of some of the meals. Then there was Saturday when I was to write about Friday. Well...Friday I started a headache that has not yet gone away. Headaches don't put you in to mood for writing and tend to take away some of the spontaneous memory abilities. Yeah. Long drawn out excuse which really means...I forgot.

On with Friday! The meal I forgot to take a picture of was breakfast. It wasn't that exciting. Bacon (yes I'm often get into that turkey bacon at breakfast rut), eggs and greens. If you are curious what that looks like just refer to Thursday's breakfast. It was very much the same.

Snack time though. That is something new and different. I had a friend drop off some grape sized plums. They are very cute. They taste just like a normal plum and have a pit in the center. The difference? They fit in your mouth in one bite. I also had a protein bar. I'm not a big fan of the average protein bar. I don't like the taste of them and they often use ingredients that I can't digest. A client shared Epic bars with us. They remind me of my dad. He loved Slim Jims. They are not high on the food quality list but they were his favorite treat and every time I see them I think of him. Epic bars are made from high quality ingredients. They come in a variety of flavors. As with all food items I think the flavor you like is a matter of personal taste.

I had an acupuncture appointment in the middle of the day. My hope was it would take away the itch and knock my headache back to a dull hum. The itching was better for a bit but the headache just climbed. I knew it was going to be one of those weekends. To make my life easier and be sure there was plenty of food on hand I stopped off at Whole Foods on my way home. I picked up clean meats, fresh corn from South Georgia, and some beautiful red cherries. Lunch was simple assembly since I also bought chicken salad. Chicken salad is easy enough to make and I make it in a way I enjoy eating. That will happen soon. Maybe next weekend since we have a three day weekend coming up. 

My afternoon snack was roasted chickpeas. They are one of my go to foods. I rolled these in a bit of that coconut oil since it is liquid right now I'm enjoying using it. I then added sea salt and garlic powder. I was in a hurry. I waited too long for snack time so I just put them under the broiler to crisp up a bit. A fast 5 minute snack! I use a full can of chickpeas but only ate half. 

Dinner was fun. We have someone local that brings fresh sea food from the coast on Thursdays. I bought sushi grade fish so we could have sushi at home. Salmon and tuna on arugula with water chestnuts and wheat free tamari. Don't worry. There was plenty of food. Seconds and a small bowl of cherries helped to fill me up. 

Now for the knitting progress. I started the second lace sock. The cuff takes forever. Not the plain knitting around and around. That is pretty simple. Even the knit two together and yarn over round that forms the ridges of the picot edge is pretty easy. It is the picking up the cast on edge to make the folded hem that takes a long time. I did find a trick that cut the time somewhat. I used a single double pointed needle the next size down to pick up the stitches. Not all of them that would be silly. Just a few at a time. Then I made it through a couple of repeats of the lace chart. Pretty good progress when you realize I had a full day with errands, appointments, and clients. 

Sock Completion Day

There are days that are made of awesome. Yesterday was one of those. Well parts of it was. Let's go with the awesome. SOCKS. Knitting first today. I finished that pair of green socks while listening to The Weasley Sisters Podcast. They crack me up! The first 5 minutes of this had me rolling. Why? Give a listen. They were talking about me. I love them. They are amazing sisters connecting over the miles and bringing smiles to so many people. I have been participating in a Cardio-Knit Sock Swap with them. These socks were knit for someone else. I can't say who because it is a secret swap. The rules were the socks had to be partially knit while doing cardio. I had intended to knit 100% of the second sock while doing cardio. The first sock was mostly knit while away at a training. Well...Poison Ivy and cardio don't mix. The socks had to be finished by this weekend. I decided that if I was watching the podcast and speed knitting that would count for something. So that is what I did. Speed knit socks. They are pretty cool for plain vanilla knit socks. The cool part? The yarn. It is one of my club yarns from Alina Shea Creations. The yarn is merino with a bit of nylon in it for durability. It makes a great sock that softens as it wears. Can you imagine merino that gets softer? I'm hoping the recipient of these socks loves them.

After work I finished up the blue sock. It needs a mate. I did start the second one today. I love the way the pattern worked up. The fit is fabulous. Again these socks are going out to someone else. Another swap. Not for me. I am known to knit for other people just not for sale. I knit for my family and I knit for surprise packages to trade with strangers. It is a variation on the pen pal theme. 

And the food you ask? Yes I did eat. I woke with a weird craving for eggs. I go through phases with eggs. I'll have months when I eat eggs every morning and then all of the sudden I can't face them any more. I like eating them best with toast. Toast is not on the menu this summer. See that? Not just today or this week. This summer! So I went with eggs and bacon with a side of greens. 

Check out these beets! They are candy cane beats. 

Aren't they pretty? It would be cool if they stayed those colors when cooked. They turn plain pink. They are pretty though. I had them with a green salad and roast turkey thigh. It was a great lunch!

Snack was a fresh peach and 10 raw almonds between clients at work. Then for dinner I made crispy kale with sliced new red onion. New red onion is similar to scallion but a bigger red bulb. I sliced up the bulb and the greens and rubbed all of it with 2 tsp of coconut oil. My kitchen is so warm right now the coconut oil is liquid. I used some freshly ground sea salt as seasoning. Then I sliced up more of the roast turkey and warmed it up. The bowl was full. I was just so hungry I started eating before I remembered I needed a picture of the food! 

For desert I had some frozen strawberries with chopped almonds. It was simple but satisfied all the taste cravings. Sometimes you just have to go with what is available in the fridge. 

Baby it's COLD Inside

All these veggies are not heating my core up! Here in the mountains we are in full humid summer mode. To keep people safe and happy in the gym we have the AC set to 68 degrees. That is perfect if you are exercising. If you are telling people what exercises to do or sitting at the desk working that is not nearly warm enough. I have been so cold the last few days. Yesterday I went outside to warm up before my 5:30 pm group class came in. I was standing in what would have been the sun if it were not so overcast. The wind picked up. I would normally love a nice breeze on a muggy summer afternoon. Not yesterday! Oh my word!! That breeze started blowing and I was chilled to the bone.

Breakfast yesterday was another salad with fruit but I changed up the broccoli. I roasted it. The little flowers are crunchy and the stems are soft. It is an interesting switch for broccoli.

Second breakfast or that late morning snack? Well, in the south we do this thing with green tomatoes. It is not necessarily healthy. It is quite yummy. We slice them and bread them and dip them in hot oil. Fried green tomatoes! They are available with gravy, with cheese grits, with cheese, plain, as a side, as a full meal, with bacon, with shrimp, the list goes on and on. Sunday I found some lovely green tomatoes. I immediately started craving fried green tomatoes. Not on detox. Never on detox. Fried? Rarely if ever in my normal diet will I have fried anything. What did I opt for? Broiled green tomatoes. I will be experimenting with variations as I come off detox. This was a decent choice though and helped with that intense craving. How did I do it? I sliced the tomato and dusted it with powdered garlic and fresh ground Italian spices. I put it under the broiler until the edges started to brown. Then I had it with simple steamed kale. Very tasty!

Lunch was leftovers. It was also a late lunch. Steamed broccoli, roasted brussels and more of that jicama salad I've been eating. I took the salad with me to work and had more of it between clients. It is important to keep the energy levels up all day.

After work I was super hungry. A trip to the grocery store was needed. I opted for Whole Foods. There are so many choices for veggies! I bought sprouts, daikon radish, spinach and arugula mix, and pattypan squash. WOW! My world opened up! I started with a sprout and daikon salad while the squash was roasting. It looks small. It isn't. The bowl is huge. The bowl holds 20 oz. This is about a cup and a half of salad. That is a whole lot of sprouts!

Pattypan squash are cute! I love them. My favorite way is to saute them in butter with fresh onion. I roasted these with garlic and onion powder. 

Then I ate them over a bed of the spinach and arugula with a few green olives for added flavor. YUMMY!!

And what about that sock progress?? There was a bit of cardio-knitting in the day. I did sit still long enough to get the gusset stitches picked up and then it was around and around and around we go! The sock is missing about 3.5 inches of foot and a toe! Soon. Very soon for this one!