knit, purl, knit, purl...

I am so excited to be on the mainland again because I can actually use the projects that I attempt to create.  I've made myself a little red scarf and I'm working on a longer version in black for Will.  We got excited about wearing scarves in New Zealand when we saw the Irish movie, "Once."  So, I unpacked my needles and got started on my first scarf.  I actually produced something wearable!  It wasn't too big or too small and I only had to consult You Tube once...(for the end part).  Now, all juiced on the success of my first project I started reading some blogs about knitting and got a couple of pattern books from the library.  Maybe I'll try to make my Christmas gifts this year.  I must confess that am a little nervous about tackling patterns without my mom's assistance.  I got a book that helps translate all the knitting short-hand and gives pictures on how to do particular stitches.  Thank God for You Tube instructional videos too!  They show you the stitches in action, so hopefully all that will give me sufficient help.  I know it won't come close to my mommy's level of help...but maybe it will make me a more independent knitter. 

I am really excited about working on these skills before I go to New Zealand and get to meet the thread in-animal (instead of in-person).  I was looking at some possible farm hand jobs in Hawke's Bay and I found some farms that keep sheep.  Wouldn't that be cool to be able to help raise, sheer, and spin my own wool?  I figure I have a limited time before I develop the allergy to wool...so might as well get as much of it as I can now.  

That's all for me, now...keep posted for more later :) 

French...I am not.

So, I read the book and logged all my intakes (food/wine/etc.) for the week.  I even whipped up a batch of Dr. Miracle's Leek Soup.  Which by the way, is not really a soup.  It's a broth.  All it called for was 2 pounds of leeks and water.  Linda and I scooped up some leeks out of the garden, and we decided that it couldn't hurt to add a couple of other veggies to bump up the flavor.  So I added carrots, mushrooms, and added a little chicken stock to the water.  The soup was quite tasty.  I drank the broth in the morning and headed out for weeding duty in the berry patch.

Well, after an hour or so...I was STARVED!  I justified my eating some of the veggies with the broth for lunch since I had worked out.  I figured that there can't be many calories in carrots, leeks, and mushrooms.  As I was reheating my soup I was craving some protein...and Will was eating this delish chicken sandwich...so I plopped a couple of slivers of chicken into the soup.  Oops!  Again, I told myself that a little grilled chicken is quite harmless.

However, as 6 o'clock rolls around and dinner is filling the house with aromas that are so sinful; I cave.  So after about 5 or 6 hours of being "somewhat French" my time as a Parisian is over.  I think I'll just try to play by the French rules another day...or, maybe not.

My mom tells me there's a better book called "Japanese Women Don't Get Fat or Old."  Maybe I need to read that one, since I have half the genes to help me through that diet ; )  Thanks Mommers!

Farming for Fun

Will and I have been enjoying Linda's wonderful "garden."  My favorite part is partaking in all the amazing food stuffs :).  Having just read the book "French Women Don't Get Fat," I now realize how savoring and salavating over "good" foods can make me skinny.  I've also learned that when I pull them out of the ground (and all the other weeds around them) I get free exercise time.  It's amazing how much money I've spent on "diet" foods, gym memberships, classes, and books when all the while skinny-benefitting activities are all around me.  I realized last night, that I even have a "walk-up style" Parisian apartment to climb up to.  

In the book, Mireille describes how French women walk everywhere (to and from school/work and home) and how most apartment buildings don't have elevators.  I can't walk to work and there isn't much around us (which I think is a nice thing), so I was worried about fitting in my French woman walking into my daily routine.  I realized that we had a free "stair master" staircase in the house when I was looking for my sweater.  So I decided to walk the 14 steps over and over again, while listening to some french music on Pandora.  You can try it too, if you like, the station that I love is called "French Cafe."  I tried to imagine that I was walking up to my Parisian flat and down to go meet a friend at a local cafe.  Will and the family giggled as I creaked up and down the stairs.

The weeding outside is an even better fat-burner!  Plus, it has many bennifits: 


1)You are outside.  The sun feels amazing, consider it a free sauna session or "hot-box" yoga studio.  


2)When all the weeds are gone and you've cleared a whole row, there is this incredible sense of accomplishment.  So much in teaching you feel as if you are putting so much effort into projects and you really get no sence of a job well-done.  There is always more and you feel as if there were so many ways you could improve.  But, with weeds...you get rid of them and in their absence, all you see is beauty.
3)No weeds=more goodies!  We are clearing the "berry patch" and while you get rid of all those weeds, you get to nibble on rasberries, strawberries, and maybe soon we will get some blackberries and blueberries.

So stay posted and add some comments for our blog :)
-Mahalos! Jess

The Summer Fun!

The Haystack team has obtained some new and greatly needed toys this wonderful labor day weekend.  Will's out surfing the waves of the storm while I am playing on our new computer, reading some books from the Lewes library, and enjoying my cup of coffee.

We've settled into east coast time and our new lives as college professors...Can you believe a retired rocker and a drama queen from Hawaii are teaching adults now?  I am loving the schedule & management techniques of the college teacher, however I miss the hugs of my little kindergarteners and the smiles of my fifth graders.


Speaking of hugs and smiles, we were able to travel through Chicago to celebrate Shane and Jeremy's wedding.  The city was incredible!  Great art, architecture, and FOOD.  There is this place called the "Purple Pig" that has the most amazing pork shoulder in the entire world.  It falls apart like Kalua Pork, but it's even better because it is swimming in this creamy gravy.  They also have some very tasty wines to wash it all down.  Jeremy's wedding was beautiful and was at a great location.  We were able to peruse the nature museum's exhibits while sipping cocktails and meeting the family.  All-in-all Chicago was a great town.



Delaware has been beautiful too!  We've had great weather, even with a hurricane passing through, we've had great sun-shiney days.  Will's had some waves and I have my wine.  So we got all our W's covered :)  He's been able to catch up with his buddies and I've met some great new people.  We've been spending most of our days getting ready to teach adults at the college level, but now I think we are ready for Delaware teaching phase 2.

What is phase 2?  Substitute teaching.  Stay posted...