while eating dinner (chili with slices of fresh italian bread) i noticed a haze build up through the window out in the distance. due to the cloudy weather it's rather easy to see further out from all the light pollution in the city, yet it dimmed quickly and the church steeple in the distance quickly became a fuzzy blur. by the time we walked to the kitchen, putting our plates away it began snowing. here we go. blizzard, round three this winter.



i walked the 8 blocks to whole foods and was rather warm. so odd that at noon today the sun was so bright it felt warm, even at 33F outside and the snow quickly melting. the store itself was mobbed. i didn't even truly need to get anything, but thought it would be nice to just get a few things, not realizing everyone else was either a) thinking the same thing i was, or b) panicking. z and i think b the more probable option and while standing in line 5 deep (as were all the other checkout lines) i called him to chit chat. he teasingly said, "make sure we have eggs, butter, and milk."



the images are icicles on the overhang of the bay window. they've grown each day and some of them crash down against the building, creating an ice cavern between the window and the snowdrift on the deck. we can only open the back door a few inches, so it was hard to take photos.

today i decided to start my sherlock blanket. though i don't have the same colors as the one in the episode (due to not being able to drive anywhere since my car still looks part of a mountain chain along the street with other snowed in cars), i do have some nice skeins of cream, brown and a cream/brown twist that i think will look nice when set in right proportions.

other than that i made another batch of cinnamon rolls, now in the fridge for the second, overnight rising - ready for the oven tomorrow morning.

there's a sliver of sunlight remaining from when i opened the curtains this morning. bijoux is sitting right on it.
though there's feet of snow piled up outside and i can hear a tractor banging away, plowing the side streets, i woke up quite cheerful today. it's very bright and sunny out. yesterday i had the notion of playing in the snow on the deck, but since i can't open the back door i might crawl through the kitchen bay window. z and i laughed about my setting the flip up to make a video of the event, but when looking at the window today i'm afraid i won't get my chance. it's got a solid sheet of ice all over it now and won't budge either.


this photo was taken while looking through the window in the kitchen. that's how high the snow is on the deck.

( more snowy photos )

video of the snow

there's a link to my youtube page to watch video from this morning, and one from tyler. there's another one from tyler in processing right now. these are best viewed in HD so choose that option.

we have storm windows and then the inner ones and the storm windows are fogged over a bit, but we can still see the gusting snow outside.




when z got home i was glad to see him and then my anxiety went away, quickly realizing i was hungry. so pancakes for breakfast.

my heartfelt sympathies are for any of my friends and their loved ones who must be forced out in this weather. it's awful that some much go to work in such conditions. z did say that the major roads weren't too terribly bad throughout the city. even our street isn't so bad due to seeing a plow go through twice last night and possibly once this morning. but we know most residential streets are bad. z said the street up from ours hasn't been plowed at all and it's a wall of snow all the way up to the car windows lining the street. for some reason ours is a popular street and tends to get plowed every now and then.


last blizzard we were able to open the back door much more than this, but due to the snowdrift, this is all we can do. both z and i pushed on the door, but it won't budge. there's barely 4 inches of visible deck railing to be seen through the windows now. the snow is halfway up the bay window again - much more snow on the deck this time than last, though most of it is from drifting. we had a yard stick out there, but we've lost it.


z took this shot through the tiny crack in the door to show the deck.

there's been a guy with a shovel, going up and down the block, shoveling the snow on the sidewalk, and then going back and doing all the stoops. i'm amazed by his kindness in doing that. we're supposed to get anywhere from 9-13 inches of snow today in addition to the 8-12 we got overnight.

*grumble*
as if there weren't enough reasons why i hate where z works (and where i was "laid off" from" they made people go to work today. IN A BLIZZARD.

there is at least a foot of snow on the ground, most likely more. we put a yard stick in the snow last night when it was only 5 inches high around 9 pm. this morning - no sign of yard stick, which means it fell over and is now under the snowdrift that's blocking the back door. last blizzard we could at least open the back door a bit, but the wind is so bad this time a drift has completely blocked it. it's also above the bay window again.

but of course the asshats that run the store decided - pshaw, blizzard! - and after my poor z spent an hour digging out his car and then drove all the way to work, finding out he can't even drive through the back alley to park, called managers to find out what to do. none of them responded immediately - of course - and no one else was there. another worker showed up and managed to get through to a manager who decided to finally close. WHAT SORT OF DOUCHEBAGGERY IS THIS! close AFTER the fact! BRILLIANT IDEA IDIOTS! now that whoever else might be en route to work will find out while stuck somewhere - oh hey, sorry you can just go home. why didn't they think of this oh AN HOUR at least before work started? the store opened another location last year out in the western suburbs and they declared they were closed TWO HOURS before work even started - like SMART PEOPLE WOULD DO.

i've been up since z left, anxiously awaiting to see his little name appear on my aim list, meaning he's at work ok and i can go back to sleep. instead he called me and i nearly had a heart attack, thinking he was stuck or in a wreck or something. but no, once again i underestimated the good snow tires and good sense he has with driving in such conditions. he told me what happened with the store closing and that he's headed back - maybe.

i was about to complain further but he's home! safe. thank goodness.

argh! time for breakfast.

feeling winter much more this year than last. though this weekend's blizzard is something to look forward to with lots of snow, in general lethargy reigns. i've taken breakfast photos, though hated all of them to the extent of not even bothering to post them. perhaps i'll poladroid a couple as i did in the past to make them more bearable looking. the lighting hasn't been kind. lots of blurriness.

yesterday i went to tyler park. my first winter trip. i hadn't planned on going, therefore not taking my camera, but as i drove into town z mentioned i might go there and the idea stuck in my head. i then remembered - the flip! so on the way i stopped at his house and asked for the flip HD video recorder, then to starbuck's for a soy chai and egg salad sandwich. i love the dill and mustard the use in their egg salad with romaine lettuce and whole wheat bread.

sitting at a park bench before the river, i ate my sandwich and sipped chai. off for a walk in the woods, sticking to the paved trail avoiding the mud - for a while anyway. of course i wanted to take a little video of the rivulets and streams down the ravine, which meant sliding down hills of slippery dead leaves, clinging to branches on the way, and of course - sloshing about in mud. i was glad i wore my thick soled keen shoes (the ugly-cute ones). though covered in globs of mud by the end of my trek, i only had to wiggle them in the rocky waters of the river bed back by the picnic tables and benches to get off most the muck. i picked up an acorn and large smooth rock - my treasures from the visit. 16 little videos around one minute or so long await editing into a full video to share, which may be my project tomorrow while waiting for the snow.

canadian friends - we have a question for you.
do you drink milk from a bag?

z saw videos tonight of canadians drinking milk from a bag (directly, and also from putting the bag in a pitcher, snipping the corner, etc... ). he was very disturbed by this, "milk does not work that way! it goes from the cow, to a carton or jug and then in my tummy!" mind you he's not being condescending, he's just ranting to be funny, but it greatly perplexes him as to why milk would ever come in a bag. when i mentioned milk came in tin cans here he didn't believe me until i mentioned it's evaporated milk, which he replied with, "that's not milk." that in itself gives you an idea of his humor. he knows it's milk, but because it's not readily available to drink in a "regular" way, he denies that it's milk.

i used to date a guy who lived in canada and through his family and friends who lived in various houses and even a few dorms in guelph, i never saw this milk bag. i even went shopping with the ex's mother at loblaws (which is an awesome grocery store, btw) and don't remember seeing it. we saw a video that said 40% of all milk in canada was bagged. though i find the whole thing odd and a bit cumbersome, i shrugged it off. so it's a cultural difference, big deal. i asked z if i should take a poll and he said yes. so how many of you canadians drink milk from a bag and how common is it really?

while crocheting squares for the summer bedspread, i watched more episodes of sherlock holmes on netflix. jeremy brett is and always will be the BEST sherlock. during the musgrave ritual episode sherlock's blanket captivated me. it's simple and in colors i would easily choose - grey, rusty red, dusty tawny brown. i think i just found my next crochet project.








the trim of the blanket perplexes me a bit. it could be that the yarn was doubled to make a sturdy trim, or it is folded over and sewn, or maybe several rows thick of single crochet stitches. i'll have to figure out what works best.

yesterday i bought a bag of meyer lemons. i made lemon curd and lemon ice cream. both came out good though i think the curd should be a bit thicker.

today zach had off from work so we woke up late, having a brunch of bagels and potato pancakes.

every time an advert for the camden aquarium airs on tv he says he wants to go back, so today we went.
( fishies )

so it wasn't quite done raining yet. i'm soaking wet in that photo. i got caught in a pounding, sideways rain storm all the way out by the river and ran a very fast half mile back towards the neighborhood. of course, now everything is wet the clouds have gone away and the sun is out. apparently i wasn't meant to go out today. so i'm eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream i made the other day and smiling because i remembered 24 is on tonight.

a cool, but pleasantly humid breeze blows through the window. a day this warm in the middle of winter demands open windows. freshen the stale air inside and revive the senses with that earthy mix of rain and dead leaves. despite today supposedly being the most depressing day of the year many seem happy, especially due to the warm weather. granted, it's supposed to snow by this weekend. i think everyone had a most depressing week last week and today turns it all around.

i've been neglecting this, but birdwings and mercyorbemoaned tagged me to do the 7 quirky things meme, so here it goes.

1. i accidentally gave myself a tiny dot tattoo while messing with one of my dip pens (changing out the nib) and some india ink. i've had it now for over a year and it's on the inside of my right index finger. it's the only "tattoo" i have.

2. though i pride myself on being rather good at crochet, knitting - as of now - remains my arch nemesis. (i did practice for nearly 2 hours last night though.)

3. i bought an oil lamp almost a year ago and since then i light it almost every night. i like reading by it and the light is very soothing. i panic when i start to run low on lamp oil.

4. whenever i want a nighttime snack i usually get something breakfast related. mostly cereal - honey nut cheerios being my favorite - but sometimes toast.

5. i really dislike being called jenny. my parents still call me that sometimes, but they are the only ones who can get away with it. jen or jennifer is preferable.

6. i'm obsessed with nature/science programs. stuff about the history of the earth and galaxy, the age of rocks, the idea that humans will one day be extinct and no matter what, nothing we do will make anything we've done last until the end of time. i don't think of it as sad, but as being ultimately ephemeral and it's comforting to think so. what so many label as "ephemeral" otherwise are just talking fads and trends. i tend to collect rocks as a result and sometimes wonder how old they are.

7. when filling out these memes i usually ask zach for help because i can never think of enough things. half the time he thinks of the same things i do, usually at the same time.

time to go outside! the sun is out and it's gorgeous.

"It's easy to be miserable. Being happy is tougher - and cooler."
- thom yorke of radiohead

been a bit slow adding breakfast photos and i didn't even bother taking one this morning. despite wanting to beat the winter and stay cheerful, i've felt like an absolute grump lately.
that's when i needed to take my own advice and get outside to exercise a bit. took a nice 7.5 mile walk, jogging for part of it. it really is amazing how much better one feels from just taking a walk.

philly friends and anyone around the philly area needing an awesome vet for your beloved pets, please consider giving Companion Pet Hospital a go. one of my best friends, Dr. Corinne Majeska, is the chief of staff and head doctor with her husband, Josh Weber, as the hospital manager. i've been friends with cori for 5 years now and whenever bijoux has had any problems i've always run to cori for help. she started as my close friend and now i wouldn't trust biji with anyone else. she is an amazing person and Companion Pets is her baby. she's always wanted to have her own hospital after working with lots of other hospitals in the new jersey/ philly, pa area.

tonight CPH had an open house for people to tour the hospital and talk to all the staff. i feel a bit of a turd for not mentioning this before so that others could've gone. i was extremely impressed by what they had going on there so far (some work is still needing to be finished, but it is a fully functioning hospital at this time). cori has been adamant about the hospital being as environmentally friendly as possible. their floors are made from recycled tires on the main floor and cork upstairs in the lounge. they use solar tubing lights, which are highly energy efficient and much brighter than most lights. they use as little paper waste as possible - all records are kept on a computer system throughout the whole building. they have a super powered (but low energy use) air hand dryer for the staff to use, which got lots of comments and several people testing it out tonight. also, they will have a green roof. it's too cold for planting now, but in the spring they will start the green roof. i noticed there's also lots of plants indoors as well as a "living wall" full of plants in the building by the cat adoption center providing fresh air and better air circulation. they do have two kitties right now to be adopted. i believe they are working with PAWS on the adoption stuff.

you can keep track of them on twitter as well for any details on new adoptees and other events.

ok, friends watching 24, your verdicts on the 4 hour premiere?
CRAZY casting!
( cut for super tv show nerdiness and spoilers for those not caught up )


as for the tomato sauce - it's awesome. and it's all about the butter.
the recipe isn't all that exclusive or rare or anything. in fact, it's printed on the back of that can of tomatoes in the photo. i think they say to add fresh basil to it, but that's the only additional ingredient.
take a 28 oz can of peeled tomatoes (you can used crushed tomatoes, i just chose the whole plum tomatoes the recipe called for) and put it in a large sauce pan with 5 tablespoons of butter and a medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half. you don't need to slice the onion, just put the halves in the pan. i bought a huge sweet onion and cut that in half, then only using one half of it for the sauce. it worked just fine. (i'm saving the other half for making onion soup with udon noodles.) bring to a boil at medium-high heat and then bring down to a low simmer and leave uncovered to cook for 45 minutes. salt and pepper to taste. after that time the recipe says to mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. we found that our potato masher worked like a charm. if you want the sauce to be smooth, then i'd say just throw it all in a blender/ food processor for a few seconds. i had some meatless meatballs so i added those and we had a fantastic dinner.

the sauce is amazing in that it is delicious and completely simple. if you want a simple tomato sauce recipe - this is it (unless you're vegan, sorry, but really the butter makes it, you can't sub with oil on this one). the butter adds a richness and smoothness to it that cannot be duplicated with oils. that fullness of flavor is wonderful. if you want to doctor this up and add more spices/ herbs to it for a bit more of a flavor kick that would work just as well. i think this recipe could server as an excellent base for any additional ingredients.

oh goodness. as if eating a huge dinner of pasta, home made sauce with meatballs, and garlic bread wasn't enough, i then bought chocolate covered dried cranberries and gorged on those while watching 24. and now z has opened the package of carmel delights (girl scout cookie season!). i'm being horribly bad tonight with food.

spice cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup (one stick) plus 3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar (regular white)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 heaping teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 heaping teaspoon cloves
1/2 heaping teaspoon ground ginger

- using a mixer or hand mixer, cream together sugars and butter. add eggs one at a time and combine until all is creamy. add vanilla.
- mix together all dry ingredients and add in batches to the mixture, alternating with the 1/2 cup apple juice until all is incorporated.
- put in greased bread pan, or line bread pan with parchment paper (i did this and was easily able to pop it right out of the pan when done). bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes or until knife cuts clean.

i'm very happy with this bread considering i made it up as i went along. i wanted something simple, but flavorful and it definitely hit the spot.

while browsing some blogs i came across a wonderful tomato sauce recipe that has me quite intrigued. it has three main ingredients: canned plum tomatoes, a sweet onion, and butter. that's it. (ok you can add salt and pepper to taste.) several food blogs have raved about this recipe and it's from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan. i absolutely love simple recipes like this and am going to try it tonight.

quiet days.
walking in new exercise shoes the past 2 days let to blisters, which led to a wonky knee due to walking weird on my blisters. i'm so horribly stubborn. knew i shouldn't have walked so much today - let alone jogged a bit, but it was so nice outside and the air was so refreshing. it actually felt warm, compared to what it's been lately.

i saw a photo of spice cake on flickr and immediately thought i'd not made any in a very long time. so after my walk, the later afternoon hours were spent hobbling about the kitchen making spice cake. nothing fancy. simple spice cake. no icings, no nuts. plain batter (apple juice instead of water or milk for moisture) with a good dosing of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.

now pretend you don't know what i'm having for breakfast tomorrow.

tuesday went out shopping with coffeehouse at various thrift places. ones that don't suck around the city. it was very nice to get out of the apartment and do something. i'd been feeling horribly lethargic.


new mug. though z said he'd kill me if i brought home another lamp or mug, i bought this one anyway. how can one say no to such cuteness at 49 cents?
went out again yesterday to the 'burbs for Food Night. i bought some bamboo knitting needles because amanda had me work a little with them the day before. i think they will be much better than the metal ones i've been using until i get used to it.



looks like i will be outside again today with my new running shoes on. the weather is actually rather nice out.

lately i've blown through some reading. finished to the lighthouse by woolf, which i wasn't thrilled about at first, but ended up loving completely by the end. the stream of consciousness style of writing was a bit hard to get into, but once i settled myself on it i looked forwards to the drifting parts of the story. it reminded me of nightwood by djuna barnes and i think i need to re-read that one. then i borrowed to kill rasputin from a friend. it was a completely dry, mechanical read with very sparsely placed comments of humor about rasputin. i felt this book to be more supplementary for those who were more familiar with rasputin's life and the romanovs. he glossed over rasputin's life so quickly i was annoyed and wanted to know more about how this religious nutcase managed to have the royal family under his thumb. reading the varying accounts of the death by the conspirators was amusing though - more like the three stooges. the fact that none of the stories matched up and each one of them took the glory for giving the final killing shot to the "mad monk" made for some entertainment in a rather dull narrative. one good thing about the book - the author debunks the myths around rasputin's supposedly supernatural and physics - defying death. (he was poisoned, shot, then 2 hours later comes bolting out of a room and across the courtyard where he's shot 2 more times and while STILL alive, bound and dragged out to the river where he's finally drowned? yeah..... rrrrriiight....)

now i'm tackling miss macintosh, my darling by marguerite young. i don't really remember what it's about though i read a summary years before. i think i'm in for one of those half stream of consciousness, tangent rambling type of novels where the "interior" of the narrator is given more precedence than what actually happens. 1400+ pages in 2 volumes. go me.

photo by minato

winter blues sinking in. feeling gutted emotionally. i like the cold, but this arctic blast of weather we've had oh.. for... how many weeks now? it's got to go. temperatures above 40F later this week for the first time in possibly 3-4 weeks. and during all that time the windchill has been in the teens to 20s. and the wind. ugh, the wind. i'm holding on to that 40+ degree weather for thursday and friday, checking the forecast with an unhealthy addiction.

this evening i was jolted out of my lethargy. received a rather interesting email and though i can't/ shouldn't talk about it - it's definitely brightened up my day - or what's left of it. that and hearing z tell me a funny story about how he toasted a bagel at work and when he started to grab it with a paper towel the towel got too hot and burst into flames. (only the far edge that was in the toaster oven caught fire. he blew that out and saved most of it.) z also bought a whirley pop machine, which we used and his exclamations that it's just like theater popcorn and delicious have made me smile all the more.

smiling and general happiness seem lacking these days. i've read many accounts of people feeling under the weather and realize we're coming upon the most depressing day of the year. i forget exactly what day it is - i think next monday? either way, a burst of positivity is mandatory. so i've compiled a list of things/ sites that always cheer me up.

1. orisinal these adorable games never fail.
2. around the table the writing in this blog is so honest and sweet. the photos - amazing.
3. pets on furniture the design blog desire to inspire has a monday segment called pets on furniture. candid shots of people's pets in their fashionable (or not) dwellings and they're always adorable.
4. faces in places this blog will amaze and even get one seeing faces in the most ordinary of things. there's also the cute american express commercial that also does the faces in places thing to the lovely music of yo yo ma playing a bach cello suite (i know because i have the cds and immediately recognized the song).
5. hamsters in high speed wheel z will vouch for me on this one. the first time i saw this video i laughed so hard i was crying - for fifteen minutes and burst into giggles when even thinking of this video for the next week afterwards. the last ten seconds get me every time.
6. cat on horse this video may seem ho-hum, but the music makes it. the song is adorable and has absolutely nothing to do with a cat or a horse. it's a scandinavian song about a bear and a bunny from a kid's show.
7. go do some sort of exercise. ANY exercise will do.
8.


for the past several years i've bought flower bouquets, mostly in january and february to make things a bit more cheery.


many hugs, friends.
xo

i spent the entire afternoon attempting to knit. knitting is not easy. it is cumbersome and one must have very good hand coordination of both hands to do it i think. something about it eludes me entirely. it's not that i can't knit. in fact i did manage to make a little piece, but unraveled it. seeing the uneven rows and dropping stitches and those bulky ends drove me up a wall. i know that i can do it, but in all honesty, i don't like to. i think i'm much more of an immediate response/ instant gratification type when it comes to things like this. if i can't immediately get the hang of it i'm most likely going to scowl about it horribly. i greatly admire those who have the dexterity (and patience - my GOSH it takes much longer to knit) to create beautiful pieces by knitting. i applaud you people who can.

however, looking at the wonky stitches i made with a forced effort (and much grumbling) i realized something. hm. that looks a lot like a tunisian stitch i have in my crochet book. i looked it up and voila - a near identical result WITH A CROCHET HOOK. ok, ok, so a truly knit work lays flat, unlike tunisian knit stitch, which curls up madly and for the longest time i wondered if i was making some odd 3D type thing and in general it can be bulky. tunisian knit stitches must be blocked to keep their shape. other than that though - the product does very much look the same. (amanda if you're laughing i totally deserve it i know.) i found a comparison image online and the two were nearly identical. i'm sure the backs were a different story, but the front facing sides looked awesome on both. tunisian crochet can mimic almost any knit stitch from the research i've done this evening. i've also started the blanket for biji - using the tunisian knit stitch. since i know it won't be fantastic being my first real go at it, i'm not so concerned that i'm giving it to the cat. plus, i'm sure she'll love the bulkiness of it.

since i got a gift certificate for barnes & nobles for xmas i think getting myself a good tunisian stitch book would be a good way to use it now.

another bitterly cold day outside. cold weather and winter are just fine, but nature dear, please cut back on the wind a little.

so what do i do on cold days with not too much on the agenda?

take all manner of photos about the apartment.