The absent-minded professor strikes again.

I have been operating under the impression that I published this post ages ago. Well, apparently not. Anyway, above is a chronological jumble of photographs from my no-longer-recent trip.

To state the obvious: I have been absent. Busyness, school, blah blah and excuses and such. Mainly I have been preparing to move my bloggy little house. I decided to do a partial reboot of sorts (there will be a post here with a link to the new locale) and think more of what I wanted to write about. I enjoy the miscellany of blogging, and yet it felt as if this little spot wasn't quite what I wanted anymore.

So, there it is. I'm very nearly finished, so I hope to have finished my virtual unpacking within a week. My fingers are metaphorically crossed. (If they were in the literal sense I wouldn't be able to type.)

Slán go fóill, 
Giselle

World Traveller

 

Well, not really. But "Time-zone Traveller" just sounded pathetic. I have not been around here because I have been Going Places and Doing Things. I went to Gainesville, where I took the two photographs above at the University of Florida campus. I've been wanting to get a picture of that tower, and when I finally had a chance all I had was the phone. Alas. I should get a proper camera, but I also need a new violin, and a car, and textbooks next semester.

Anyway... I also went on a trip to Maryland with Mishka and his mom. We flew there.

In an aeroplane.

In the actual sky.

Yes, I had never flown before. Or at least not since I was six months old.

 

 



I must say, the weather was glorious. When the plane landed we were in the last row and had to wait to disembark, and they opened the door behind us. We could immediately tell the difference in humidity level. During our stay, the average temperature was 77 degrees, with the highest humidity count at 30 percent. And people there complained of the heat. The heat!

By the time we came back to Florida, I was completely spoiled. I now can barely stand being outdoors for more than five minutes at a time.

Since we were in the Baltimore area, we made the most of our time and did the rounds of museums and such. That is, as much as we were able with a two-year-old in tow. So be prepared for the attack of the photographs, because most of them came out pretty well.

"From scratch"

I am tired of cooking from boxes. Not only is it all dyed and preserved, but pre-packaged is just plain boring. So this is my new project: I want to make at least one thing, every day, entirely from scratch. I don't care if it's a three course meal or just eggs and toast, but it isn't allowed to use any premade ingredients.

Day one was Yorkshire puddings. (A recipe from one of my beloved European cookbooks, so plenty of measurement conversion went on beforehand... I know, I need a scale. I'll get to it eventually.) I've always been a little confused about why they are referred to as "puddings" though. They seem more like dumplings to me. But whatever they are, they're delicious even when served with something that doesn't properly go with them. Like tuna salad. It was all I had.

Day two was banana bread, from the best banana bread recipe I've ever made. (It's this one. For me it has the perfect banana to cinnamon ratio.) I love this, and the funny thing is that I hate bananas. 

And then I got ambitious and decided that my little bread needed something fancy. Something like caramel lace. 

Fancy has a price though. Cleaning that pot was not fun.

Some were dramatically prettier than others.

Day three was french toast and scrambled eggs, but you shall have to take my word for it. The pictures were all blurry.

I'm going to plan on doing posts like this every week or so, to hold me accountable. Hopefully there will be improvement.

Slán go fóill, 
Giselle

On paperwork, and other disasters

Time management is not one of my strong suits. No matter how hard I work at it, it seems as if I'm constantly trying to fit something in at the last minute. Currently I'm trying to get my paperwork sorted before registration for classes opens at the college. Sounds fun, doesn't it? It wouldn't be a problem if everyone else had their stuff together, but they don't. Therefore I've spent the past several days in a flurry of trying to get things from one person/place to another person/place.

A similar situation arose regarding a trip I am going on at the end of the month. I paid to overnight my registration, only to find out that I had been given an incorrect zip code on the address where it was supposed to go. Because of that I missed the workshop choice deadline and had to do the form over.

On Monday poor Mishka had a run-in with a wall that resulted in four stitches above his eye. He looks like Frankenbaby now, but it's surprisingly adorable. Given his tendency toward wild recklessness it's a wonder it took so long for something like this to happen, but it was stressful at the time. His mother had to come home early because I'm not his parent, and apparently that trumps having a child with a gashed forehead. But at any rate he's much better now. (Actually he recovered from the injury itself quite well; I cleaned him up and he was chipper as a lark. I, on the other hand, may be paranoid forever.)

I have to apologise for such a quantity of glumness, but having a bit of a rant has made me feel much better. And I promise to be back over the next few days with things that are decidedly less whiny and more cheerful.

As a sidenote, the rain wasn't a disaster. We just happened to have a tropical strom (or something, I think it might be a hurricane now) brush past us, so we had quite a bit of it this past week. Which was rather lovely; I enjoy rain. Besides that, I didn't have any relevant pictures for this post- probably a fortunate circumstance- so I decided to use them instead.

Slán go fóill, 
Giselle

Just keep stitching...

I'm still plugging away at my little sampler, and reading the same book. I haven't made much progress with either, because since my oral surgery adventure I've spent most of my time in pain or doing something else. And it is surprisingly difficult to crochet a motif while holding an ice pack to your jaw. Nevertheless, I have finished the rose, made an adorable little leaf (I think it's the picots that make it so cute), and started a fun spiral-thing.

It is all passably photographed on my favourite apron. However, I really should get a new camera. I've been stuck with nothing but my phone for ages now, and I'm starting to feel very limited. Right now I don't have room for one in my budget, so I will have to put up with some graininess for a bit longer, but it is on the list. Along with a new violin (my bank account weeps at the thought, but one does what one must when they need a more advanced instrument).

Due to a new resolution I have been cooking more, and taking more passable photographs. More on that to come later. For now I am linking up with Ginny's lovely Yarn Along.

Slán go fóill, 
Giselle