When Knitting Was a Manly Art

Finished the second of three scarves for another of the young ladies at work.

This one is done in Lion Brand Yarn — Moonlight Mohair in the Northern Lights colorway.

This morning I put out a fresh block of suet and in less than an hour, our little local flock of Gray Jays discovered it. We had five jays standing in line to get their turn at the suet. Not a common bird at our elevation

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I work in the food industry. Luckily, as a cook, I don’t have to deal with customers unless I want to. But I’ve witnessed a few examples of people who *really* need to remember the title phrase. Be Nice to Each Other.

Recently a contributor on Metafilter added a link to a blog in England which published The Manners Manifesto.

Easy things, like Smile and say Please and Thank You. Unfortunately too many people have forgotten how to be civil to each other. I need to remember some of the items myself.

OBCP (OBligatory Cat Picture) — Rudy and Halley enjoying the wood stove.

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I don’t do YouTube. With crappy dialup as my only available connection to the internet, I generally don’t look at sites that *require* broadband. But …. I was passed a URL and told I *had* to take a look. I loaded and waited — for a long time — but it was worth it.

Knitters and cats. Y’all will appreciate it. Please make sure you have sound enabled.

Wake up Cat

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Step outside this evening to round up the outdoor cats for the night and was met by the many voiced chorus of the Pacific Tree Frog. Have I mentioned that the Tree Frogs are back? I wish I could really record the overwhelming sound that comes from a creature so small. I recorded a little bit of their calls last year, but there’s no way to really appreciate it unless you stand in the middle of a couple hundred male frogs all trying to outdo each other.

Culinary class yesterday was exceptional. Kitchen Fundamentals, This was the second class I’ve taken from Chef Thompson, one of the primary chef/instructors at the school and I enjoy him more each time. He’s a talker. He warned us at the start of the class that he’d probably run the class over time and he managed to turn what was supposed to be three hour class into a four hour class. I actually had more hands on work with a chef’s knife in this class than in the Knife Skills class last week. A bit of everything, including roasting peppers, learning to do the little wrist flip thing you see cooks do while sauteing. We had chopped onions (using the same technique I mentioned last week) and then sauteed them in a little oil over *very* hot gas stoves, attempting to flip and keep most of the onions in the skillet. I did pretty good, as I’ve worked on the flip for some time, but others weren’t as adept. There were lots of onions on floors and stoves… I’m glad the Consumer Class students don’t have to clean up after themselves. Finished the class, breading and cooking up *huge* chicken breasts. The more I take classes at Oregon Culinary Institute, the more I want to go full time. Soon…

Not much knitting the past couple of day because of work and classes, but I’ve picked up stitches on the second sleeve and given a couple free hours I should be able to finish it and then finish the neck and the little sweater will be complete.

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First, I want to thank everyone for their kind comments about Jake. It’s amazing how an animal can work it’s way into your heart. But 19 years is a long time and it’s going to take a while for me to get used to the fact that the old man is gone. But I will and hopefully I’ll find another animal that can fill the void.

Yesterday turned out beautiful and I managed to put about 12 miles pedaling around Portland. Raining tonight, but I can hardly wait for summer to return and I plan on putting on many more miles, both in the city and on a few country back roads I want to explore.

Spent a couple of hours today before I headed to work, working on the Gansey Sampler and managed to *nearly* finish one sleeve. Still need to finish binding off, but I think it’s turning out kind of nice… Now I need to find a teddy bear to fit it, and maybe find a new home for both.

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We lost Jake last night to the pressures of age and failing kidneys. I had taken him to the Vet last week because I was concerned that I should be doing more for him and to seek the Vet’s advice on whether or when I should plan on putting him down. He said that the final decision had to be made by me, but that Jake wasn’t in discomfort. He was still eating, drinking and trying to use the cat box and, until the end, still had enough strength to hop up on my lap each morning for a little mutual head butting.

I had a good cry and then buried up on the hill above the house. He had a good, long life — he would have been 19 in June — and he will be badly missed.

The day looks like it’s going to be nice, so I’m loading up the bicycle and heading into Portland for the day. I need to get out of here for a while.

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Did you all realize that March 1 is National Pig Day?

National Pig Day recognizes and gives thanks to domesticated pigs. For some unknown reason, big, pot-bellied pigs seen in zoos, are often the symbol of the day. Pigs are clever and intelligent animals. But, most people are unaware of this high level of intelligence. They can be taught to do tricks. Some people even keep them as pets. Today is a day to give pigs the respect that they deserve.

National Pig day is celebrated by zoos, too. Activities include Snort Offs, Pig Outs, and online Pig Chats. However you choose, do not miss celebrating this day.

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It’s been more than a week since my last post and it’s time to catch up.

Jake: Still hanging on, though I’m not sure why. Still losing weight. Eating less, though still drinking and using the cat box.

Knitting: Nothing and probably nothing for a while. Life isn’t too conducive to knitting right now.

Work: Now that’s something to talk about. How can I work 9+ hours a couple time times a week and still be under 40 hours? Last night was a real winner. Our night manager called in. A sick daughter and she missed the night. A person short and we managed one of our biggest nights in nearly two months. $1300 dinner when we’ve been lucky to break $1000 all day. Then as I’m closing the till, I hear noises from the front of the restaurant. I come forward to find water everywhere. A clogged drain and our water cooled compressor for the walk-in overflowing it’s drain. We grab buckets and try to get a hold of the owner. It’s past 10:30pm and apparently he’s in bed, because there’s no answer. Meanwhile, I’ve got a plunger out trying to clear the drain and only get large amounts of gunk coming back out of the drain. Sigh.. I really don’t want to spend the next couple of hours fighting this. Finally the owner answers his phone, Told us how to turn off the water, but then wanted us to try using his cheap plumber’s snake to clear the stoppage. Nasty… By 11pm, we still hadn’t cleared the blockage and he told us to clean up and he’d be in early in the morning to try to fix the problem. Nearly 11:30 pm before we got out last night. I’m earning $9.50/hour for this? Oh.. did I mention the night manager is pregnant and the owner doesn’t know yet?

Cooking: I’m close to making a decision about going to culinary school. I’ve been talking to a number of chef’s and culinary instructors and they all say that my age shouldn’t be a problem. One of the instructors had two 60 year olds graduating at his last class and his opinion is that as long as you have the stamina and the desire, you’ll find a job. Now.. Where do I find an extra $15,000? Anyone?

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and it doesn’t have anything to do with either Eileen or the boyfriend.

My old man, Jake, is coming to the end of his days. Something is shutting down. He’s lost considerable weight in the past two months and over the past couple of days I’ve noticed that he’s breathing faster and harder even when he’s at rest. His 19th birthday will be the 15th of June, but at the current pace he won’t make it. I’m hoping he dies quietly in his sleep here on the ridgetop rather than one more traumatic episode of boxing in a carrier and taking him to vet for the final injection.

Either way, I’m probably going to take it hard. He’s been with me through thick and thin over the past 18+ years, and he’s going to be hard to let go of.

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One of the first sites I hit to check on the internet rumor of the day is Snopes.com.

The husband and wife team of Barbara and David Mikkelson work hard on researching and finding the facts on many urban legends, and it’s just plain fun to dig through the site.

The latest newsletter has an article about a Louisiana woman who enticed hummingbirds to eat out of her hand. It’s amazing what can be done with a bit of patience.

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