Below are the most recent 8 friends' journal entries.

Friday, November 6th, 2009
greenwitch	11:59p	Pumpkin Soup! Not sure when this turned into a food blog, but that seems to be what I’m working on lately. And since the fabulous Juliana is requesting pumpkin recipes (and since I didn’t get around to making my chili today after all), that’s what you’ll get… A friend passed this along to me a few years ago, so I’m not sure of the source. I also tend not to measure much, and I can say that the only time I’ve ever screwed this one up is when I added too much pumpkin and didn’t balance it out with extra spices. So really, everything is approximate and spice to taste. Also, I’m writing this from memory so forgive the lack of exact step-by-step directions. Pumpkin Soup 4+ cups broth 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped onion 1 15oz can pumpkin 1 tsp sage 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1 chopped cooked potato (optional, to thicken) Directions 1. Saute onion and celery for about 5 minutes in a bit of olive oil. 2. Add half the broth and spices (and potato, if you want). Simmer for 10 minutes. 3. Take off heat and puree in blender or food processor. 4. Return to heat, add the rest of the broth and stir in pumpkin. 5. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes. I usually end up adding extra vegetables and with about 6 cups of broth by the end. It’s pretty hard to screw this one up, as long as you don’t burn the onions. Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
greenwitch	4:43p	More adventures in destashing… the kitchen While destashing of yarn is on the back burner, and destashing of my books is in progress, so begins a new destashing project: the kitchen cupboards. Just before NaBloPoMo started I had seen a blog post made by someone somewhere wherein the author was making an inventory of her canned goods as an on-going project. While I’m not quite that organized, I got the idea that I should at least do some re-arranging since we tend to have a lot of canned goods stored in various places. I also happened to be raised by parents who are very frugal when it comes to food, saving all leftovers and… well, taking expiration dates more as suggestions (hey, it hasn’t killed any of us yet! Usually it’s perfectly fine, at worst it’s a bit mushier than usual.) So last night I sorted through everything and put the newer cans in the pantry and kept the older stuff up front, which included some canned spinach. Eggs were also on sale this week, so when I went food shopping this morning I picked up some frozen pie crusts as well (I’ve tried making it myself before, and it’s always been inedible.) And thus, when I got home, I made my first-ever quiche: Shockingly (to me, at least), it is, indeed, edible. It actually came out pretty good, even if the spinach was the icky canned kind and not fresh (or frozen, as the recipe called for), and the fact that I substituted plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise (the idea of baking with mayonnaise is pretty damn icky to me, I just couldn’t do it.) Next up… pumpkin chili. Hopefully it’ll turn out better than last time (stupid me followed the recipe exactly, even though it involved adding half of the contents of the spice cabinet.) Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
greenwitch	9:19p	Why yes, I am a bit optimistic This be the pile of books that came into my possession today (both via the public library and by a Barnes & Noble order): And this is in addition to the current stack (of library books and what I’m in the middle of reading, or is up next on the list): Note that I’m not foolish enough to actually photograph my real bookshelf, which would make even my own head explode. As a kid, I was always a good reader. I think being the sibling that wound up with the built-in bookshelf covering an entire wall in my room definitely helped there. Of course, then came college, the Internet, digital cable and Netflix, and the amount of time I spent reading dropped off of a sharp precipice. Of course, then after a few years working in the field of my college major (and realizing there was not much going on there), I made a wacky decision to go and become a librarian. Once I got a job in a public library, it became clear that my lack of pleasure reading over the past few years was going to be slightly problematic. So for the past few months, I’ve been trying to catch up. Hence the piles of dead trees I have sitting on my coffee table and around my bed. My primary genres are historical fiction and sci-fi fantasy, though I’m a fan of non-fiction as well (especially books on natural foods, and technology). I even pre-ordered a B&N nook (though I’ve been waffling on this decision ever since, since it is very much an unnecessary purchase, and I just wanted to be an early adopter for once.) I’ve been keeping track of my progress on Goodreads, and sought out a few online book clubs on Ning (though I’m mostly using them for future recommendations, since my plate is obviously full at the moment.) I do admit, the hardest part is just setting aside the time to actually read. I used to be a very fast reader, and that’s diminished over the years, but if I can get a good run in I can make it pretty far (thought I blasted through the Sookie Stackhouse series in just a couple hours each). Of course, now when I do try to get a few hours in before going to sleep at night, usually I look up from the page only to discover it’s 3am. Whoops. At least I’m getting back in the habit. Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
greenwitch	10:34p	Already hitting the speed bumps Only Day #3 of NaBloPoMo and I’m already hitting the speed bumps. I should probably work on some template posts to keep in store just in case, but no time for that today. I think I’ve found my next project, however, to make using the green yarn I bought from Light Brown Hare back in the spring, and that is Ingrid from Oceanwind Knits. I’ve been trying to figure out a decent pattern that will show off the colors, but never found something that I was really happy with. This one is sufficiently different from any other patterns I’ve used before, though, so at least it feels like something new, even though it’s still a scarf. Now I just hope that my ball winder can handle this ginormous skein of yarn D: LOL. Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
greenwitch	12:19p	NaBloPoMo, Project #1 So today I broke out the sewing machine for the first time since Dragon*Con. My first project of the month is a simple table cloth, made from the massive stash of hand-me-down fabric I have. It’s not complicated at all (and frankly, the fabric is pretty boring), but the piece of fabric was the perfect size for the kitchen table. Plus, a while back I tagged a neat table cloth tutorial on my del.icio.us account with advice on how to make corners. My hems are a little off because I was trying to make it as long as possible and the fabric was already cut, but for a quick project, it came out really well. Now I just need to figure out what to make for the next 28 days… Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
greenwitch	7:48p	So it begins! Welcome to November 1st, kids. I’m going to do my best to hunt down other NaBloPoMers and comment when I can. Mostly the Ravelry folks, but if anyone else happens to drop by, just comment with a link and I’ll be glad to drop by with some moral support! So why am I doing this? Because I want to get into the habit of blogging more, which I accomplished last year. Before last November, I would make a post once each or every other month and that was about it. Last November (with only one minor hiccup) I managed to keep going, and keep up the momentum throughout most of the year (with at least a post a week or every other week, which is substantially better, IMO.) I also want to be productive, and having a goal each day will help that. Right now I’m only employed part-time, and the tedium that all those extra hours brings is a real downer (especially when job listings I’d be eligible for are scarce, and especially that my ability to knit has been curtailed severely by RSI in the past few months.) I may not be able to post something crafty every day, but at least I can make the effort to be semi-interesting. So what are my plans for this month? I’d like to get a few craft projects in. I’m on a quest to find the ideal sweater vest pattern that won’t require me modifying a pattern (which I’m too chicken to do — anyone know of an intermediate-level pattern which’ll fit a 38″ chest? I fear no cables, but lace is a bitch), and I’ve got quite a bit of fabric stash to use up. I’ve also recently decided (despite having made that decision in October) to complete the 52-books in 52-weeks challenge, since it tends to confuse people when you’re a librarian and you tell them that you don’t read very much. I’ve got 22 books to go for this year, and I think I can do it — 3 books a week (when you throw in a few short YA and Juvenile ones) should be a cinch (I say that now!) Anyway, if you’re still reading after all these parentheses, congratulations! You don’t win anything, unfortunately, but if you’re participating as well — best of luck! I’m going to do my best to keep up with everyone, and my neglected Twitter account. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I’ll be able to share details on a new WIP. Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
greenwitch	11:08p	Happy Halloween! I didn’t have any big plans for Halloween, and that suited me just fine this year. I’ve had a fairly relaxing day, putting off any laundry, etc. I needed to do in favor of listening to the new Trans-Siberian Orchestra album (no verdict on that one yet) and finishing the Sookie Stackhouse series (got through the last book and a half this afternoon.) According to my Goodreads tally, those two bring my total books read this year to 30. I know I’m late on the bandwagon for most 52-books in 52-weeks challenges, but I’m going to try to make it to 52 by the end of the year (or at least 50). It’ll be a stretch, but I’ll pick up some more juvenile books to pick up the slack from the fact that most of the books on my reading list are longer than average (fantasy novels with over 700 pages…) Most of the reading I’ve done this year has been in the past few weeks, so I think I can do it. In a related story (of challenges, that is), tomorrow begins NaBloPoMo. I have no idea how I’m going to manage to keep up with it, or be interesting for 30 days straight, but I figure that if I’ve done it once I could do it again, right? Either way, I’ve started a day early, apparently. To everyone who’s going to participate in the various November challenges — good luck! Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
greenwitch	1:59p	That time of year again It’s the end of October which means we’re approaching the start of NaBloPoMo. Since I’m not much of a writer, NaNoWriMo is out, but last year I participated in NaBloPoMo and made it through with only a minor hiccup (I got all 30 posts in, but one was a few hours late… whoops.) I would definitely like to participate again, though I’m not sure on what topics. My knitting has seriously dwindled in the past few months due to RSI, but maybe I could try and pick up some more cooking and baking? I want to avoid personal and work topics of course, but I suppose I could also get a head-start on next year’s Dragon*Con costume planning (especially since the majority of keyword searches I get for this blog are for the Confessor dress!) Who’s lining up for NaBloPoMo this year? What are you going to blog about? Mirrored from December Project. Comments are preferred there. (Comment on this)