W.I.P. Diya's Blanket

Actually it is Diya's Blanket 2.0. The first attempt was so full of mistakes that I pulled it all out and started a new pattern. This ones is much easier and is turning out beautifully!! I love the color and I can't wait to finish it.

I was working on it the other night while watching the Virginia Gubernatorial debate and some how I managed to miss some stitches somewhere and I had to pull out a whole row. I was so mad because I messed up my blanket due to the fact that I was paying more attention to the two idiots on the TV and not to my knitting. The worst part is after an hour of watching the debate all I know about the candidates is that they both have a plan for everything. No specifics were given, just that they have a plan. Well DUHHH, I figured that. Anyways...while undoing my knitting I managed to do something weird to a few of the stitches and I had no idea how to fix it. Luckily I have a friend whose mom is a knitter so I went over to her house and she showed me how to fix it. Yeah!! So now I am back on track and making progress on Diya's blanket.

Dress Up

Jai's parents were here and Jai's mom dressed me up in her Sari.

Fun to dress up in but not practical for the SAHM!!

A Little Knitting

I have finally been motivated to start Diya's blanket!! I was so motivated that I broke my rule of knitting in complete silence and now I have a mistake that I don't know how to fix!! (That's what I get for getting overly confident in my knitting skills.) There were to many distractions and somehow I miscounted something and when I went to fix it I managed to add an extra stitch. All I need to do is undo a few stitches and then I could fix the problem, but that is the only problem with knitting for me: when I make a mistake I get stuck!! I decided to put it down for now and once the house is quiet tonight I might try to fix it. Wish me luck.

Local Tidbits

I have to admit that so far this season I have not cooked a single local meal, but there has been a little bit of local eating going on at the Oberoi house.

One of our local restaurants, The Capital Ale House offers a daily local meal so whenever we eat there I usually order it.

Some friends of ours went and picked peaches and brought me back a dozen. I have been enjoying fresh peaches on my cereal every morning and on ice cream at night!!!

Earlier this summer we all went to the Chesterfield Berry farm and picked our own strawberries! Not only did they taste good, but it was a really fun way to spend time together as a family.

Our neighbor has brought over two grocery bags full of veggies from his garden. So far I have made fresh salsa, had cherry tomatoes on my salads, and big red slices of tomato on my tuna fish sandwiches. Yummy. I have tons of banana peppers and I found a recipe for banana peppers stuffed with chorizo so that is on the menu for next week. We also have eggplants waiting to be made into eggplant Parmesan and bell peppers ready to be stuffed. Hopefully I have the energy next week to cook all these meals.

That has been part of my problem this summer, a total lack of energy and motivation. I have had all these good intentions of going to the farmer's market, but I keep forgetting to go. Being pregnant and chasing after a toddler has kept me pretty busy. I wanted to grow a garden of my own this year, but I was too busy growing a new little person instead!!

I have noticed that the grocery stores are catching onto the local eating phenomenon. Ukrops, a locally owned grocery store, has tons of local produce and their commercials even show the farms and farmers who grew it. Wal-Mart has even started to carry a few local options.

Back In Business!!!

Last year a large portion of my local food for the food challenge came from a little vegetable stand just down the street and it was so convenient, but unfortunately he sold his lot and an American Family Fitness is going in. Since it is so conveniently close I am hoping to join once it opens, so I guess it is not a total bust, but I was so sad to see my veggie man go!!!

BUT...

Guess what I saw today as I drove by. HE'S BACK!!!!!!!! He is in a lot next door to his old one and I was so excited the I was Yoo Hooing in the car as we drove by. I can't believe it. I am so excited!!! Now I have my source of yummy local fruits and veggies for the go local challenge.

So far I have not done any local cooking because being 7 months pregnant has left me tired and lazy. I have just not been motivated to drive all the way down to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, but now that I can just drive a few miles I plan on getting involved. I am so happy because I was feeling really left out of all the fun!! Stay tuned for some local Virginia cooking!!!!!

Just In Time

Here is the finished baby blanket for my friend Holly. She is scheduled to have the baby on the 8th of June and tonight we are all going out to dinner to celebrate this new little baby. Luckily I finally got motivated and finished the blanket for her.

These are a couple of little hats that I have been working on. Of course I made girl hats and everyone I know is either having a boy or not finding out. I'm sure I will find someone who needs one of these hats! I have so many projects to do that I really need to get busy. I have to start my blanket for our baby, do TWO blankets for our neighbor and friend having twins, finish my gifts for my little game I am doing on the blog for Sara, Meg and Heather, and finish a wash cloth and shawl. I guess I better get busy!!!

Composting

I have wanted to start composting for awhile now, but hadn't ever gotten around to it, so I finally made a composting box and got a pile going. I found these easy to follow directions on the net. It was fun using the screwdriver to drill the wholes in the box. I'm sure my neighbors were cracking up to see me in the backyard going to town on the box with the power tools.

I had been saving scraps for awhile, but since I didn't have any dry material it turned into a big moldy and slimy mess so I threw away my first attempt and started again. I followed the directions and here is my lovely pile of compost. We didn't have any dry material so I picked up grass clippings from my neighbors yard. Once again I am sure that the neighbors must think I am crazy. I know that Jai does. When he first found my stash of scraps to throw in there he said, and I quote, "What the hell is this?" When I explained to him what it was he just rolled his eyes and called me a tree hugger. I took it as a compliment!!! We recycle everything, but I still wanted to find a way to reduce the amount of trash we were throwing away. Problem solved!

I will keep you posted on how my compost pile is doing because I know it is a real burning desire that you all have!!!