Fall Organizing

Everyone has heard of 'spring cleaning'. After a long winter shut up indoors, out come the cleaning supplies and everything gets a good scrubbing while the windows and doors are flung open to let in the fresh spring air. It's a ritual performed by households all over the northern part of the hemisphere, including my own and probably yours!

What I've just come to realize, though, is that for me there is a counterpart to the spring cleaning ritual - 'fall organizing'. Every year, as soon as that crispness hits the air, I begin to feel the need to get my life in order. Closets and cupboards get emptied, sorted and organized. The filing cabinet, with its myriad of paperwork, is given a once-over and reams of stuff is sent off to be shredded and recycled.

So far this year, all of my organizational zeal has been focused on my crafting stuff. With some wonderful results! I have now condensed and downsized the contents of 2 giant storage tubs into 1 giant storage tub. How, you may ask, was this miraculous feat accomplished?

To begin, I pulled out all of my scrap yarn - a rather sizeable collection of leftovers. I then channeled all my crafting energies into completeing a scrap yarn afghan that I have been working on for 5 years. It felt wonderful to finally have it done, but I still had a huge amount of scrap yarn to use up, so...

...I started working on another afghan - this one not quite as stylish, but definitely colourful! Right now I've used up about 90% of the scraps, so it's almost done.

I was also able to give away this afghan to some friends of ours who just got married this weekend. And I've made the commitment that I will not be buying any more yarn until I've used up the rest of my stash.

That being said, before I made that commitment, I had stopped by a local yarn store that's having an inventory sale for the month of August where if you pay cash, you get 10% off and they pay the tax. How could I not buy something? So I picked up a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool, which is going to make a lovely pair of Jaywalker socks. But not until I finish all my WIPs!

Awkward moment...

For the past month or so, I've really started to notice how un-fit I'm feeling, largely because there is very little physical activity and far too much sugar in my life. I got off track back in Feb/Mar when my life was so crazily, insanely busy and I just never really tried to get back into a healthy routine. So, over the course of this past weekend I made two decisions: 1) I am going to start attending yoga classes once a week at the studio down the street, and 2) I am going to cut out any and all desserts for the month of September to break the habit of needing something sweet after a meal.

I learned today that these decisions were made not a moment too soon, as I was asked by someone at work if I was expecting. I am not. Awkwardness ensued...

Raspberry goodness

Behold the incredibly yummy Raspberry Custard Kuchen that I made this week. I was looking for a way to use up some plums that I was given, and stumbled across this recipe and just had to try it. I'm so glad I did! It's good as a dessert or for breakfast - or both :) And I'm pretty sure that you could substitute just about any fruit for the raspberries, depending on what's in season. Here's the recipe:

Raspberry Custard Kuchen

1-1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. whipping cream
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups fresh raspberries (or other fruit)


1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, combine 1 cup of flour and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cut in 1/2 cup of butter until it has become the consistency of coarse crumbs. Stir in 2 Tbsp of whipping cream. Pat into a well-greased 9"x13" baking pan to form the crust.

3) In the now empty bowl, combine 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/2 cups of flour and sprinkle it evenly over the crust. Evenly distribute the raspberries on top of this.

4) In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar with 1 Tbsp of flour. Add the eggs, 1 cup of whipping cream, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the flour mixture and stir it in. Pour this evenly over the berries.

5) Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes or so before cutting.

Enjoy!

Cubing

I saw something rather amazing yesterday on my way home from work. As I sat down in the subway train, I noticed a guy a little way down from me playing with a rubix cube, which in and of itself isn't that remarkable. What caught my attention was the way he was flipping it around like he'd been doing it his whole life. He then proceeded to mix it up and then solve it 7 times in the 20 minutes that I was on the subway with him. He even took some time in the middle to make different patterns with it, like having the 4 corner squares on each side the colour of the opposite side. Everyone in the train was watching him, to which he seemed oblivious. I couldn't help thinking that he was either an exceptionally gifted person or someone with way too much time on his hands. Probably both. In any case, it was fun to watch!

A Paucity of Posts

Sorry everyone! Things are going to be a little sparse over here for a little while. Work has gotten extraordinarily busy, so my posting time has been drastically reduced. I'll still post when I can, though, so you won't feel neglected ;o)

Raisinet Anyone?

Hee hee hee! Nick and Maureen pointed me to this site over here, and I'm rather thankful. I can always use a good chuckle.

Nasal overload

One of the hazards of using public transit for those of us with scent allergies is that you are guaranteed at some point in your journey to be assaulted by the overwhelming perfume/cologne/etc. worn by far too many people. And there is no escape, unless you get off at the nearest stop, but then you'll just run into the same thing on the next ride. So here are my tips on how to avoid the worst of it.

Tip #1 - Avoid sitting or standing near black women.
Now before you get upset, let me explain. The fact of the matter is that the majority of black women use a significant amount of hair product, which is usually very heavily scented. There are, of course, exceptions to this, so look to see if the woman's hair is straight or looks like it's glued in place - those are the ones to avoid. Anyone with a more natural-looking hairstyle is probably safe.

Tip #2 - Avoid sitting or standing near teenage girls.
This one shouldn't need much explanation. Without a great deal of perfumery experience, it's easier for them to overdo it. As a bonus, you don't have to sit and listen to a conversation riddled with the word "like."

Tip #3 - Avoid sitting or standing next to anyone wearing animal prints, fur, or with extra-long fingernails.
This goes for both genders, folks. These are the people who think more is better - trust me, you want to stay far away.

Tip #4 - Try to sit or stand next to people with small children.
People travelling on public transit with small children are either: a) environmentally conscious yippies (that's a cross between a yuppie and a hippy) who wouldn't wear such chemically laden products, especially around their children, or b) too busy or sleep-deprived to even remember such frivolities as perfume and hairspray.

Tip #5 - Try to sit or stand next to people dressed in work clothes.
Anyone dressed in work clothes, and I don't mean suits and ties, is going to be doing some significant labouring and generally doesn't bother with scenting themselves. That's saved for when they clean up after work. There is one exception - if the work clothes are covered in paint, you may want to avoid them unless you'd like to get a passive high en route to your destination.

Tip #6 - Try to sit or stand near a window or door.
That way, if you are unable to avoid the three categories of people mentioned above, or a seemingly innocent-looking person turns out to be a walking scent bomb, you can at least get a brief whiff of fresh air on occasion. Another bonus: if you're sitting next to an open window in the winter, chances are no one is going to want to sit near you anyway. Just make sure you bundle up!

I can't guarantee that following these rules will keep the scent assaults at bay, since there are always exceptions, but I've been riding the TTC with allergies for three years now and can attest to the fact that every little bit helps!