Domestic Goddess (right....)

Yesterday, I made some yummy homemade pesto that I paired with storebought tortellini. Here is the recipe:

A whole package of basil (leaves torn up into small pieces)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cloves garlic

4 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

2/3 cup olive oil

small handful of pine nuts.

Blend until smooth and adjust ingredients to taste. Let the sauce sit for an hour to ripen flavor. Mix with pasta or spread on bread!

I also finished a knitting project (NO WAY - yes way!). Blog readers have not seen it because it was going to be a surprise. It's a wedding shawl for my friend Krista who is getting married this weekend. (And yes, I work well under pressure). It is my own pattern, and it was not intended to turn out trapezoidal, but there you go. It is still very pretty even if it has a slightly odd shape. Here are some pictures of the shawl blocking.

The whole shawl, with pin box for scale.

Close-up of the leaf border: Close-up of one top cornerPictures of the "shawl-in-action" to be posted shortly.

Santa Fe

Southwest Airlines' promotional material includes flight maps. For Albuquerque, they write in parentheses: (Gateway to Santa Fe) or something similar, as if to say, "The only conceivable reason you would go to Albuquerque is to drive 45 minutes to Santa Fe". I really have a hard time with this. Albuquerque is a hidden gem. By broadcasting that on this web site, it is not so hidden anymore, except to the maybe 750,000 people who live here. In any case, sometimes it can be fun to go to Santa Fe, and experience "The City Different". In small doses (and when you don't spend any money), Santa Fe is quite pleasant. On Saturday, Jon and I walked around some of the art galleries and compared the quality of customer service we received at each place. It's related to how old you are and the quality and style of your outfits apparently. Sad but true. Here are some neat things we saw on Canyon Road:

Wind sculptures (and great customer service):

Awesome river stone chairs (same place):Could this be a yarn and needle sculpture (by this time we had moved on to Madrid, NM)?

Completely unrelated, but worth including anyway. The cacti are blooming in the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque.

The Haircut that will go down in History

If you have been following the blog, you may recall some mention of The Great Shed that has been occurring in the last few months. The Great Shed happens annually when copious amounts of cinnamon and white hair are released from the coat of Lucky the Dog and deposited not only in the house, but also the yard, the car, the street, the neighborhood, even the city and the whole state of New Mexico. The Great Shed has very deliberately and decisively ended. (Great rejoicing was heard in the streets). Now you may be wondering what precipitated such a sudden termination to the Great Shed. All will be revealed.

BEFORE:

and After these two very hairy pictures, we have "process" pictures. Jon came over and clipped said dog for 2 HOURS! Major props to him - he did a beautiful job. My function was to hold Lucky's head and reassure him that he was still my baby puppy and he looked cute. This was about the middle of the largest haircut in recent times. Notice all the hair in the freshly planted vegetable garden. Icky. It turns out that Lucky really enjoyed his haircut and didn't need holding down. Look at that happy face. Almost done!
The hair we could salvage (which implies that there is still a lot left in the yard) fills up two shopping bags when patted down. It is certainly enough to coat the neighborhood in a thin layer. Don't worry, though, I already threw it out before it could take over the world. AFTER: (a very happy and cool little guy) Note: He was a little upset at me for leaving him at home, so he wouldn't take the biscuit - as I said, he is a little crazy.He has been a lot more active and has been wagging his tail a lot more since the haircut on Sunday afternoon. No new large tufts of downy hair have appeared on the kitchen floor. Lucky is pretty much indebted to Jon. Everything is right in the world.

Yay for camping!

This weekend, Jon and Zarek and I (and of course, Lucky the Dog) packed up the truck and went up to the Jemez Mts. We went up

Hwy 485, which I had never taken before. As you come up Hwy 4 past the Jemez Pueblo, you turn left and immediately go over a bridge. If you get to Jemez Springs, you passed it. It was SPECTACULAR. I am kicking myself for never going that way before. Anyway, there were some cool New Mexico-style red rocks and cottonwoods and ponderosas. What more could you ask for? Maybe tunnels in rocks? Yup, got those too.

The truck that goes everywhere. Her name is Toots.

Very impressive show of rocky goodness. Deep canyon with whitewater and some very deformed rocks. I wish I knew more about geology. I love the Jemez!The camping buddies. In the morning, we had some superb breakfast burritos and then went for a long hike up a long-abandoned road or mining trail or something. It followed a canyon up to the top. More impressive cliffs and very large hawks flying about. Coming down (not on a trail) was a bit of an adventure in Chacos, but that is why I am an expert butt-slider when I encounter very steep slopes. This particular slope definitely merited butt-sliding. We finished it off with a dip in the stream and then some pie and coffee at my favorite Jemez cafe, The Laughing Lizard. Good times were had by all.

Random cool stuff

1. Recycled art - a cool carpet

2. More inspiration to be creative - 52 projects

3. Something to do if you are bored and want to look at good photography - 365 portraits

4. Very random - a knitted digestive system complete with instructions.

5. Thinking outside the box knitting patterns - Shibui Knits - I would like to make a lot of these patterns.

Tidbits of News

Ten Random pieces of newsy information:

1. Patch the knitted dog was not done in time, although he is coming along nicely.

2. I watched Goonies for a second time.

3. I got three "holes in one" in mini-golf on Saturday!!!!

4. Vegetation has sprouted in my vegetable garden. The verdict is still out as to whether said vegetation is basil, carrots or noxious weeds.

5. My frisbee-throwing skills have improved marginally.

6. Pomatomus socks have not been touched in a while - they are the slowest socks in the history of slow socks.

7. Lucky the dog is clean and well-groomed, albeit quite hot in his winter coat.

8. Gas is about to hit $3/gallon any day now.

9. My arm is completely better. Praise God!

10. I adopted a sick and very scared little brown bird. Not being an ornithologist, I have no idea what kind he/she is. I hope he/she lives though!