Dammit

When Tim Russert passed, my second thought, after a rather poignant sadness, was that at least now Dad would have someone to spar with, a solid voice from the left side of the aisle to counter his right-winged opinions. Now I get to work and hear about George Carlin. Dad loved that guy, and he was quite open about using language properly; he removed the stigma from things like the 7 words you can never say on TV, and Cyril and I were raised early on Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Never mind that Carlin died of heart failure, same as Dad...I'm going to be a little sad all day now. grr...

Handfasting was lovely, made me cry...I'm definitely getting used to Florida weather too, because while I was certainly sweating a nut in the great outdoors, I wasn't uncomfortable. Man, it takes it out of you though; we did stop at Chamblin's on the way home and unload those books (to the tune of $94 credit - SWEET!), but we were pretty useless afterward. I guess I needed a weekend like that though...well, that and I never should've had that one beer; I fought dehydration headaches all weekend as a result.

Independence Days Challenge update:
1. Plant something - yeah, well, at least more stuff's sprouting...
2. Harvest something - just catnip still, but again, the Big Boys are begging for attention...
3. Preserve something - not really this week, but dipped into the stores of the frozen Chicken n' Dumplings, and it's sure nice to have a little something set aside...
4. Prep something - Chamblin's purchases: Better Homes & Gardens Complete Book of Gardening (hardcover edition from early '80s, I think) and the Crafter's Choice Complete Stitch Encyclopedia...really nice, thorough volumes on both subjects, priced at a song.
5. Cook something - pretty much failures on this front, but at least I'm trying...FarmGirl's Blueberry bars just aren't my cup of tea, I guess; and I tried a Honey-Wheat bread recipe (from Panera cookbook) that I found online, that was also kind of disappointing...never trust a bread recipe that says you only have to proof it for 30 minutes. I should've known better, I mean, I've read enough of FarmGirl's advice on bread baking to know better now (on breads I trust her implicitly, as she's an artisan bread baker who's working toward having her own bakery). Live and learn...
6. Manage reserves - running out of reserves to manage :(
7. Local food - No change

Watched Whale Rider a couple of times on Saturday night (freakin' LOVE that movie), and that and the handfasting got me thinking about religion and my heritage...pulled out The Apple Branch again. My faith's been in a dry patch, and while I may talk of Summerland, I don't know that I actually believe in it - I'm too much of a realist. But the alternative - there being nothing after death - terrifies me in a rather crippling fashion, so I'm going to do some more reading and thinking on it.

Knitting mainly the baby cardigan still...started shaping the armhole areas...a little daunting, but I'm still in the zone on it.