bluerainroom

autumnal eye candy

Autumn really arrived as I left my office for the last time today.  An impatient wind and sharply colder air.  On our drive home the skies were a leaden landscape, the kind of brushstroked shades of charcoal that herald winter.  Against the dull gray of the sky, the brake lights glowed vivid red.   It's been a cool fall, but the trees are late to change this year.

I'm heavy lidded and heavy headed and I have a miserably busy week coming up.  All-day meetings tomorrow and Wednesday, evening meeting tomorrow night and all-morning meeting Thursday.  All that and a head cold.  I am, predictably, already in my jammies.  So rather than just missing the posts (and feeling all of the ensuant guilt), I'm giving myself a bye-week.  Taking a pass on posting until I get through this quagmire.  I have some posts bottled up, but all of the October-themed entries (like an Oktoberfest party and our visit to Busch gardens - where we learn that Callum was really born into the wrong family) will have to wait until nearer November.  Catch you on the flip side.

sleepy saturday

I've been waiting ages for a Saturday like we had this past weekend.  Blustery and cold, all of us cozy and lounging.  There was reading (Harry Potter #4 for Callum and #1 for Neel) and knitting (baby sweater done, except for the seaming).

There was playing.

And house-guarding.

And wondering why the rest of us weren't as invested in house-guarding.

I followed the boys from the quiet of the living room to MarioKart in the family room, soaking up the sound of the rain and the time together.  And about that house-guarding?

That's better.

hey look!

Neel made dinner last night!

cooked fruit aversion: cured

I do not like cooked fruit.  Not a fan.  (cooked carrots either, but that's a story for another day).  If you're making peach cobbler, I'll have the cobbler without the peaches any day.  But this week, a couple of things happened.  On Friday, our Assistant Head of School brought me a piece of apple pie.  (Truthfully, I deserved a piece of pie since I both turned the oven on and placed said pie in the oven for one of our middle school teachers, but don't think I wasn't grateful.)  It was still warm.  And the apples, despite their cooked nature, were pretty tasty (the crust was still the best though).  So the fact that someone brought me pie, coming right on the heels of this post by Alicia (I mean, sour cream?  and pie?  Seriously even with the cooked apples, there can be nothing bad about that.) made me think that someone wanted me to make a pie.

So we did.

In fact we made two!  We'll be taking one to our local campaign office, because what could be more American than voting and apple pie?

So to conclude:  Sour Cream Apple Pie = good.  And Ama, you better go check out the recipe, because as Neel said, this pie has you written all over it (although you'll probably make your own crust and it'll be way better, but still).

weekend roundup

on my run yesterday and on the way to and from Lacrosse today:
    Obama:     24
    McCain:    14

(early) autumn dinner

We made my friend Megan's chicken pot pie one particularly cool evening this week.  If you want the recipe, you'll have to go ask her.

I cropped this photo, but first, see that vein in the marble to the bottom left of the pie?  Doesn't that look like bacon?  I just noticed it.  Sadly, it is not bacon.

There you go crop-a-doodle.

By now we all know how lousy the lighting is above my stove.

Insides, with soup.

And leftovers!

visitor

So look who popped in just in time for dinner last Saturday?

Neel and I were cooking out, and when I came into the kitchen, there he was!

We tried to strike up a conversation, but apparently he wanted to sneak in, grab a snack and sneak out without chatting.  After a brief respite on one of our kitchen lamps, Neel managed to encourage him to head on out and perhaps swing by another time.

gasp! actual knitting content

Yes, I know it's been awhile since I've picked up my needles.  There were some projects scattered here and there that I neglected to mention (and more importantly, forgot to photograph): a pair of socks for my mom's birthday, a scarf or two.  Nothing too exciting.

I'm enjoying this baby sweater though, intended for my new nephew who we will meet for the first time over Thanksgiving. It's the child's placket neck sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  Man, I love that book.  There is project after project that I'd love to tackle in its pages.  The yarn is a trip:  Kollage Corntastic.  Made out of corn!  How crazy is that?  Corn!  And you know what else?  Machine washable!  And dryable!  The color is moonstone, kind of a deep purpley blue, and I'm thinking of adding perhaps yellow stars or red firetrucks for the buttons.  One sleeve and the lower body down.  I'll keep you updated.  Promise.

battleground

If you're keeping track at home.

On my run this morning, the count of yard signs and bumper stickers: 11 Obama, 7 McCain. 

If you want to live in a hotbed of liberalism in my neighborhood, I can point you to just the street.  The McCain folks were a bit more scattered.