Saturday, June 06, 2009

Still here

Still working on the wildly boring baby blanket. The shower is Friday. If I work hard (harder than I have been!), it will be done!

It's a big circular-needle wad at the moment.

baby blanket - again

I haven't let myself work on anything else, so as a result, there's been very little knitting lately.

This afternoon, I went out and bought mint, basil, and sage and repotted them into some pretty pots. (I left a whole lot of pots at my house in San Antonio, so I had to buy new ones.) I've talked about growing herbs forever, and finally decided to do it. They're on my balcony, which is closest to the kitchen. On the patio, I'm afraid they would be a nice snack for the ducks and geese!

potted herbs

I chose herbs that I buy fresh frequently -- I'm currently on a real mint kick. My favorite salad at the moment is baby spinach with strawberries and whatever other berries I have on hand (this week, raspberries and blackberries), mint leaves, and raspberry dressing. And mint is essential to this dish, which is still a favorite. If this experiment works -- meaning they don't die in the next week -- I'll go back for more. Parsley would be nice. Any other ideas?

I also have a new phone, that looks just like my old one. Last Saturday I tried to flip it open to read a text and noticed this:

broken phone, part 1

Opening it up only made it worse.

broken phone, part 2

Of course, it was out of warranty. So I got another, exactly like it. My contract isn't up until March, but I really want to get an iPhone then.

One more thing: anyone from the Upper Midwest know what this tree is?

the tree

My reserved parking space, in front of my townhouse, is under this tree. In the fall, it leaves millions of tiny leaves all over my car, and in the summer, it drops these things:

stuff from the tree

And the birds like to sit in it, too. Knowing what it is would make it easier to think the ugly thoughts that I think about it all the time!

5 comments:

Chris said...

Um, do you have a good picture of a single leaf?

Knit like the wind on that blanket!

Steven said...

I used to park under a mulberry tree that really did a number on my car...

I found this Interactive Key of Common Iowa Trees from the ISU Forestry Extension. Maybe you could work through this and figure it out? From your picture, I'm guessing some kind of ash tree?

Good luck on finishing that blanket. You can do it!

Imbrium said...

My guess for the tree would be a Honey Locust: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_locust We had one in our front yard when I lived in Nashville - every spring it would explode in little white flowers, and the petals would drift down and look like snow. I loved that tree. :)

Anonymous said...

I would suggest you try to find Garlic Chives for your herb collection. It looks like regular chives, but has a mild garlic flavor. Great in salads, as a garnish, or in cooked dishes. I use it in stir-fry dishes frequently.

Amy said...

My phone did the same thing.. Verizon said it was a common problem with them LG's.. they gave me another one thank GOD.. please check my blog for my give away.