September 2006
Why Is This Kitty So….
…well, something? Because it’s MONDAY, of course! And because tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Are we all ready for the piratitude? (I just made that word up. Not bad for a Monday.)
A note to friends who have Photoshop: I think this kitty would look mighty nice with an eyepatch and a pirate hat.
Friday
1. I know I promised more M.F.K. Fisher this week, but I was too sleepy to pull my favorites.
2. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming up on the 19th. That’s TUESDAY. Get ready here.
3. Some etymology: I’ve never liked the word “maroon,” probably because I don’t really care for the color it describes. (I don’t mind it when it refers to piratcally stranding someone on an island. Or when used in Warner Bros. cartoons: “What a maroon!”) But I looked up its origins and it’s directly from the French word for chestnut, marron. And I like chestnuts.
The State Fair
Although we could hear some of the Kenny Rogers concert, it was not a musical. I did see my sewing project, which took third place (that’s worth $5! And I got a ribbon!) but didn’t get a lot of pictures, as the batteries in my camera died.
However, I did see all the fancy chickens. And the rabbits. And the goats, who were my favorite. Then we saw draft horse pulls: imagine a tractor pull, but with Clydesdales. The winning team, Sam and Bill, pulled 9,500 pounds 8 feet. I guess I’ll have to add goats and draft horses to the ranch.
Cute!
So my new favorite site is called Cute Overload and that’s what it will give you. This little piggy picture is from there (go to the “Farm Animals” section and be prepared for the lamb in the sweater). Can anyone tell I watched Babe last night?
In other news, Karma from Blue Moon Ranch is for sale. For $19,000. Donations, anyone? Here she is:
What Monday Night at the Apartment Looks Like:
I went into a cooking frenzy last night and made both pasta with fresh tomato sauce and ratatouille, in the process setting a new record for dishes dirty at one time. (Bear in mind, the kitchen at I Street is the size of an average home’s hallway.) The finished ratatouille is hiding behind the almomst-finished bottle of wine.
I blame M.F.K. Fisher (also on the table) for all of this. I’ve been reading How to Cook a Wolf for the last few days, and it’s delightful. Take a paragraph like this, for example, about shrimp pate:
“Such a [pate]can be kept for weeks or months, or perhaps even for years, if it contains enough spoices and alcohol, is correctly sealed into its mold with coagulated fat, and is kept reasonably cold. Given these three prime benefits, it can be produced when you will, like a mad maiden aunt, or a first edition (in Russian, naturally) of Crime and Punishment.“
Another favorite, preceding a recipe:
“It is called Date Delight, through no fault of mine.”
I’ll put more of her up this week. There’s a passage about cheese that I love, too. Here’s Tuesday’s bonus photo: “Still Life with Zinnias, Nasturtiums, and Saint Candles On My Dresser.”
Yeats + A Kitten = Monday (Alpacas Are a Bonus)
So no one is disappointed, here is a kitten picture:
And here is me talking about my weekend:
I ate a lot of apples(sliced in a salad, with cheese, plain, and baked). That reminded me of the phrase “the silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun,” from a poem by Yeats, which I found this morning. It’s called “The Song of the Wandering Aegnus”
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by me name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
In other news, a visit to the fair is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday. And here’s today’s Blue Moon Ranch picture: Meadow and Laurelin eating willow leaves.
Friday Information, All About Me
1. Did I mention I will be volunteering at Blue Moon Ranch’s Open Farm Day September 30th? I will be WORKING WITH ALPCAS, folks. I just didn’t want this to get overlooked.
2. Did I mention I entered a sewing project and a knitting project in the Utah State Fair, which is now going on? I may have won a blue ribbon (worth $7), a red ribbon (worth $5) or even a grand prize trophy (worth $20!). I’ll let you know.
3. And allow me to mention my feelings about Blueprint Magazine: I thought the first issue was pretty caught up its own pretension but am a sucker for craft projects (could you tell?), so bought the second issue yesterday. They actually used the phrase, “artisanal cupcakes” in it. Now, there are many things that are called “artisanal” in this day and age (bread, cheese, whatever) but CUPCAKES SHOULD NOT ONE OF THEM. They are cake. And frosting. There are no cupckae artisans.
Enjoy the weekend!
Meanwhile, Back on the Ranch…
It might be a week of fiber-bearing animal pictures: Here’s a picture of Navajo Churro sheep. (Speaking of the world of sheep, look them up sometime on Wikipedia. There are breeds from Africa to Iceland, some look like goats, and there’s even a variety called the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep, bred in–yes–Barbados.)
In other fiber news, I will be helping out at Open Barn Day at Blue Moon Ranch on September 30th. Mark your calendars!
Word of the Day
caprine (adjective; KAP-rin): of, relating to, or resembling goats.
Caprine shares the same root as “caper” (to prance about, frisk, gambol) which is Latin for, of course, goat. “Capricorn” gets in on the etymological action, too.
These are angora goat kids, from a delightful website: Crookabeck Farms. They’re a farm in the English Lake District–Beatrix Potter country–that raises exotic fiber animals, apparently.