More Piggsville Graffiti - Jade reflection

Reflection, Detail, Entire

Piggsville Graffiti

Went geocaching with my kids today down in Piggsville, near 39th street, I94, and the Milwaukee River. There was a huge amount of graffiti down there along the river, so of course I had to spend some time photographing it. The train shot over us while we were there. I have a lot of photos to work up so come back soon.

Though I Grieve, Still I Shop

Our best local knitting store, Kro-sha, is closing, which is very sad. They carried such lovely knitting supplies, were very helpful, and they were close by. A knitting friend alerted me to their fate and unfortunately mentioned their reduced prices as they clear out their remaining inventory. I stayed away a long time, fought the urge to just 'drive by,' forced myself to think of all that felting wool I already had left over to play with . . . and folks, it worked for a while. At least until today when Mary called me and said she had just dropped $80-something in there. When Mary called me today and said that everything was 40% off. When Mary called today and told me the details of what she bought and I couldn't stand it any longer. I am so weak.

So, after sitting here in MS Word and typing up a complete list of every knitting needle I seem to own (there are always needles lurking in stashed projects that I will have to catalog when I find them), in every configuration (single-point, dbl-point, flex, circular, and crochet hooks) and in each size I own, I then printed out my data and headed off to wreck our budget once again. I hope my husband isn't reading this. You don't read my blog, do you hon? I did promise we could go out to dinner tonight when you suggested it. I didn't even complain (much) about what was left in the checkbook, the need for a tank of gas, the cost of a meal out and the disagreeable relationship between these three things. I figured, as long as I'm not complaining, let's see me not complain some more. Logic trumps budget. I rock.

Lexie

Cheese, Louise!

I am here to write about cheese today.
Normally, I don't think about cheese every day, but today I thought about cheese, lusted after cheese, and ate a bit too much cheese. My vegan daughter has taken to preparing interesting things for the family to eat. This is very good, seeing as I do not enjoy cooking, but do enjoy eating. Being vegan, some of the ingredients for these dishes are, shall we say, obscure? Not really obscure, but some of them just are not found at the Sentry a few blocks from our house. It took two trips today to find rice paper spring roll wrappers, for instance. They were not at the large, modern grocery in the Village of Tosa, but they were down the block at the local health food Co-op.
You may be wondering, what does my vegan daughter have to do with cheese? If she's vegan, she doesn't even eat cheese (or want to talk about where it comes from). Well, Outpost not only carries fine organic food and tons of vegan choices and downright strange things (no offense), but it also carries a pretty darn good selection of cheese, Grommit. The budget is tight right now, so I passed up the imported Port Salut, the Manchego, the Chaumes and the Brie and settled on some ciliegine, otherwise known as little mozarella balls. Oh, glory! I just ran down to the refrigerator to check on the spelling of ciliegine, and had to eat another one while I stood there. There were about 12 little white almost spheres in the container (they are sort of shaped like something extruded straight from a baby cow, only perfectly white in color - don't let this keep you from trying them as they are delicious), but now, 30 minutes later, there are only four left. Oh, they are so good! Of course, you shouldn't be eating them like potato chips, especially if you're trying to lose those last 15 pounds. Can't eat potato chips like potato chips, either. But at least with ciliegine, you are getting some protein and calcium, calciyum.
I have this French friend, un ami francais, who has tried to frenchify my tastebuds with good wine, good cheese, good bread and good cat food (pate). He has tens of thousands of dollars worth of wine in his climate-controlled basement and has graciously allowed me to try all sorts of interesting vintages, yet has not yet succeeded in finding a wine that I prefer over plain old grape juice from concentrate. This is no fault of his own; I simply don't like the stuff, even the good stuff. But the cheese . . . ahhhh, the cheese. Fol Epi, Petit Basque, Beaufort, Saint Andre, Saint Albray . . . how wonderful! The French do make some fantastic cheese. It wasn't until I stumbled upon a chunk of Pleasant Ridge Reserve while in Spring Green a couple years ago that I could name an American cheese that I preferred over most French cheeses. PRR is made by Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, Wisconsin and it is now my favorite cheese of all. This cheese was named US Champion in the US Cheese championship in 2003 and won Best of Show at both the 2001 and 2005 American Cheese Society Conferences. This simply means I'm not the only one who thinks it's the most wonderful cheese I've ever tasted. (See link at right.) It is worth the stunning price per pound, when you've got the dough. Most folks who drink wine will spend far more on that, so who could complain about a half pound or less of the best cheese there is for only $20.00/#? If you go out to Spring Green to the General Store, or straight to the farm, you can get it for $18.99. I hear if you're in Chicago, it's $24.99.
So that's the skinny on cheese for today. I like saying "skinny." Makes me feel better about cheese and eating more of it.
I want to go and hide those ciliegine in the back of the fridge so that no one else knows they're there, but if I go near them, there will be nothing left to hide.

Barrel Cacti in the Arid Dome

We went to the Domes again today, and I didn't expect to get much because I was feeling extremely lazy. I guess I got a few things worth posting, but I probably would have gotten more if I had dragged my tripod in there and taken my time.

Leaf It To Me

This is a leaf of the Mexican redbud tree in the arid dome at the Mitchell Park Conservatory here in Milwaukee.

This was another large leaf in the tropical dome, taken from underneath.

This was a strap-like leaf in the arid dome. I liked the little dark mark down the middle shown here.

I couldn't find a sign identifying this plant, but the leaves were stunning.

A leaf fell onto a larger leaf and here we are seeing them both up from beneath. The bigger leaf might be a banana, but I'm not sure.

Latest Accomplishment (almost)

There are a number of really good knitting blogs out there (my favorite being http://www.masondixonknitting.com/) so I'm not about to start another one, but I am rather proud of myself for almost finishing this six-foot long shawl the other day. I say almost because I have to add on the second lace border, but that will be done very soon. I had never knit lace before, and this is a simple wavy lace pattern, so I thought I would try it with some cheap, no dye lot Caron Simply Soft from our local I-hate-them-and-can't-say-their-name-so-why-do-I-sometimes-shop-there-mass-retailer. I have paid the price for my decision, as you can see by the subtle color change on the last two inches of lace border. That's where I had to change to a new skein of yarn. Oh, well. It was, after all, a learning experience.

Invasion of the Body-Snatchers

Last week I purchased three praying mantis egg cases. Each case contains between 100-300 eggs. I gave one egg case to a friend and kept the two remaining cases in a brown paper bag. I had no fear of their hatching immediately, so I was rather casual in my placement of the bag. Today, after a string of lovely days, I decided it is indeed time to put the egg cases out in the yard. The trouble is, I can't find the bag anywhere. I remember putting it on the kitchen table, and one child says that's where she saw it last. It looks just like a lunch sack. We've had a couple days of warmish, humid weather, and I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Elmo Gone Emo

My 13-year old son is quite the writer. Here is one of his latest poems, created at the drop of a hat to drive a dark-dressing female schoolmate nuts. I don't like the last verse so much, but the tune he sings it to is catchy, so much so that once it's in your head, you can't easily get it out.

Elmo Gone Emo

Elmo gone emo,
Emo for a day.
Elmo gone Emo,
Emo all the way.

Elmo be on drugs now,
Dying his fur black.
Elmo get a big tattoo
Of monster on his back.

Elmo quit his job
On children’s TV.
Elmo’s black fur
Not good publicity.

Elmo get a job
At some old emo store.
Elmo grow his fur out long,
Not cuddly anymore.

Big Bird and Barney
Decide to go emo, too.
They both put on black clothes
Like Emo Elmo do.

In the end they cut themselves,
And they bleed to death.
This proves quite frankly,
Being emo’s not the best.

Eyes Reveal Fabric of the Soul

I asked my eight-year old son today what color his eyes were.

He tried to think of the word for the color in between blue and green and replied with, "Corduroy."