Flopper & Eikon's Great Minnesotan Adventure

Watch out, Mitt is tolerant!

2008-01-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney Defends Himself Against Allegations Of Tolerance

Moving

2007-12-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

So the move has swung into full gear and I will be w/o the internet until Sunday evening. My computer is pre built in wireless so I need to get a USB Wireless thing.

The house and Garage are covered with boxes and we move tomorrow.

Heres a grumpy unshaven Eikon (I've been cleaning since the day before christmas and am a bit grumpy)

Flopper hit a deer on the way to Iowa and so the car will be needing repairs.

Eli as ever is just bemused by all the fuss and in precicely the wrong place when we are moving things around.

~Eikon

Woo hoo!

2007-08-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

A singular judge in Iowa makes my day. . .

Judge strikes down Iowa's same-sex marriage law

By DAVID PITT | Associated Press Writer

7:45 PM CDT, August 30, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Polk County judge on Thursday struck down Iowa's law banning gay marriage and ordered the county recorder to permit gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Less than two hours after word of the ruling was publicized, two Des Moines men applied at the Polk County recorder's office for a marriage license, and for the first time the application was accepted. The process of granting a license to marry in Iowa takes three days.

Read the article here. . .

2007-08-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

2007-08-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Tony.s lunch that only opens at nine

Off to the East Coast!

2007-08-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

Tommorow we will be headed to the East Coast to see family and friends.

We are going to drive through the night with Flopper's dear Friend Mandy and should arrive in Centallia Pennsylvania at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing my family (especially my two little neices) and my friends from high school amny of whom still live in that area.

We'll go to Knoebels on Saturday (Easily my favourite amusemnt park) and then head down to Philadelphia that night to see Fred and lodge in the rectory.

Mandy really wants to see the historical parts of Philadelphia so they'll have Sunday to do that and I'll hang out with Fred and kvetchas I am wont to do.

Monday it's off to DC to see all of our friends there. I"m looking foward to Faeries on Mondaynight and getting a haircut form David my stylist whom I sorely miss. Oh and the food I am really looking forward to the food. We'll be in DC until Thursday around noon.

~Eikon

New Blog, Big Changes

2007-08-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

I've started a new blog since our most recent post. A lot has changed and we're still working through some things. Eikon and I will certainly keep posting here too!

Garden Photos

2007-08-02T16:51:00.001-07:00

Eli and George playing

2007-08-02T16:45:00.001-07:00

George is Eli's Friend next door. He and Eli like to wrestle and Eli almost always gets pinned.

It's terribly cute.

~Eikon

Pictures and Poultry from The Sherburne County Fair

2007-08-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

So we went to the county fair across the river with our dear friend Dan and his friend Patrick. We encountered the entire gay population of Saint Closet.

I of course was interested in the excursion as a cultural experience but seeing as it is rude to take pictures of people I instead took pictures of poultry.

Polish Howdans.

Booted Pigeons . (priest is the name of the breed I think)

A pretty little Bantam rooster.

And an assortment of other fowl; all brought to you by the 4-H.

I also went to my first cow auction. It was fascinating and somewhat sad but unfortunately the camera was not working at the time so no pictures of cows.

I did get a few pictures of the local sports club exhibit though. Is it conservation if it is done by Republicans?

Fish; it's like a Chinese Restaurant but with more deep fried food

Minnesota is odd.

~Eikon

Well that's dead on

2007-07-31T17:12:00.001-07:00

2007-07-31T16:41:00.001-07:00

Eli and george play

Sourdough Challah

2007-07-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

Until the late 1800's when dried yeast became readily available all bread was "sourdough"
I got the recipe for this challah in Wild Fermentation and am quite pleased with it. The only downside to sourdough is that it requires a very long time to make or more specifically it requires considerable time between steps.

I made the sponge last night and kneaded the dough at 11 this morning. It rose for about 4 hours. I kneaded it for a few minutes and then braided this loaf.

It rose for another 3 hours until it doubled in size and then baked at 400 for 40 minutes.

Maybe a half hour of work spread over a 20 hour period for a loaf of bread. Next time I'll add more honey though the sourdough flavor is actually very sweet.

~Eikon

2007-07-28T10:18:00.001-07:00

Egg plant flower and yellow pears

Jarring pickles

2007-07-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

I jarred the pickles this morning and was connfronted with many lovely small pickles and many soft large pickes. The moral of this story is to use the smallest cucumbers you can.

The result of this lesson is that instead of getting five jars of pickles I only have three. One for Niko, one for Dan, and one for my belly. I may have to make more. I wanted them to be slightly hotter than are and will experiment with peppers next time I make them. The pickled garlic tasted almost better than the pickles themselves; which bears consideration for future projects.

Tonight we see 1776 !

~Eikon

Flopper's Birthday

2007-07-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

Flopper is 24!

For his birthday we're going to go see 1776 at the Guthrie Theater tomorrow night.

Now Flopper is dieting but every man deserves a cake on his birthday.

I don't know how to make cake really ( I stick to deathly fattening tortes) but in our cooking arsenal we have a copy of the parish cookbook from Flopper's place of birth Guthrie Center , Iowa. I thought it fitting to use a recipe from there and after passing up anything entailing a boxed mix (I love Midwestern cooking) I settled on "Mom's Chocolate Cake".

I got the icing recipe from the St Mary's cookbook and in a fit of whimsy constructed this.

It's double layered with the center soaked in the strawberry syrup I made a few weeks ago.

I bet Flopper will like it.

~Eikon

2007-07-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Education relic from the 70,s at my school

2007-07-24T17:22:00.001-07:00

Pickles

2007-07-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Pickles are ridiculously simple to make.

Well brine pickles; I suppose canning the pickles would extend their life span but am illing to bet they'll last a few months in the fridge without it.

This recipe is courtesy of the book Wild Fermentation ; Which I have now bought.

So a number of little cucumbers plus a cup of kosher salt to maybe a gallon of water.

I now have a five gallon crock thanks to our dear friend Dan that cost less than my 2 gallon crock. (miso is soon to come). I opted to use one of my big moving Tupperware containers to try to cut out the bad smell aspect that bothered Flopper when I made sauerkraut.

Toss all of that into a the crock and put a plate on top of it to prevent any of the cucumbers from floating to the service. I added black pepper, 3 heads of dill, coriander, and a dozen cloves of garlic as well.

Then put a gallon glass jug filled with water in to weight it down.
They should start being pickles in a week or two and then I'll put them in mason jars in the fridge before giving them away and schlepping some across country. I suspect I'll get 4 or five liter jars with a break down cost of maybe 3 dollars each (2 of which are from the jar itself). Not bad considering Bubbie's costs 8 dollars for a similarly sized jar.

~Eikon

Flitch?

2007-07-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

According to the Coal Speak Dictionary Flitch is :

flitch : candy made of peanut butter rolled up in a mixture of mashed potatoes (yes, mashed potatoes) and powdered sugar. Often sold at block parties and church/school functions.

Now my family didn't make flitch though I have vague recollections of my Aunt Barbie having it at her house in Aristes.

First you dice and boil a single potato. One is more than enough; and a small potato at that. I made way too much potato.

Mash it.

And Mix in about a pound of powdered sugar until it is stiff like a cookie dough.

Roll it out between two layers of wax paper at about a quarter of an inch and spread peanut butter (CHUNKY) in a thin layer over it. Now I think that I should have chilled the potatoes first as my roll is no nearly as lovely as what I remember as a child.

Then roll up the flitch using the wax paper as a lead and separating the potato fudge from the wax paper with a knife if need be.

The roll needs to chill for a few hours and can be cut and served. This is a summer party staple in the Coal Region. My roll is of dubious authenticity as I recall the flitch of my youth having peanut butter as the outside layer and being an almost perfect spiral but this stuff tastes good in any case.

Now the question is what to I do with all of it. I can't possibly eat it all and Flopper is dieting.

~Eikon

Our First Tomato

2007-07-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

To be devoured by Flopper .

The Yellow Pears should be ridiculously abundant starting next week.

~Eikon

Sourdough Starter

2007-07-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

I've decided to name my starter Lucinda. It's good to name living things and judging by frothiness this is definitely alive.

I started it Sunday Evening and sure enough this evening it was happily bubbling away. I'll make my first loaf tomorrow night and post pictures.

~Eikon

2007-07-15T14:40:00.001-07:00

First ripening tomato

Praise to the InterLibraryLoan

2007-07-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

And the librarians who scurry like happy gnomes (Fritter you need a pointy gnome hat) to bring me the information I desire.

So I have been on a bit of a DIY (Do It Yourself) kick lately regarding food and the preservation there of. I stumbled across the Chelsea Greene Publishing company

through the books The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved and Wild Fermentation by the Short Mountain Faerie SandorKraut

and this delightful compendium of food preserving techniques that I purchased from the folk school in Grand Marais last time we were on the North Shore.

So I went on an ILL spree and put in orders for a multitude of books

Two on seed saving as I want to be able to keep my own lines of plants. I've three tomato types I want to preserve and a pepper; not to mention the possibility of benevolent friends.

Two concerning "simple living" because Lord knows I could use the advice and am particularly fascinated by the making of things by hand.

One about produce preservation; here's hoping that we have a plentiful harvest from our little garden.

A book about winter gardening in the US and why it is a very possible thing to do. Apparently we receive more sunlight than the south of France in the winter and this fellow manage just fine in Maine. Doesn't he look happy?

And finally an Armageddon Contingency book for my reading pleasure; it never hurts to know these things.

These books should keep me occupied for a few weeks and should appear at the beginning of next week ; the ILL process seems to take about 7 business days (which for a library includes Saturday).

Hugs,

~Eikon

Crazy Week

2007-07-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I ditched Konnie to go to a workshop presenters' training session in Indianapolis for Liturgical Press in order to present their Psallite Series. I'm really excited about "the product," I was already sold on it, but after spending the weekend for 4 of the 5 "collegeville composers," I'm even more sold! (If that's possible.)

The workshop was placed right before the NPM convention. So I managed to spend two days there as well. Anyway, as a result of this weekend, I've decided to lose weight. We'll see how that works out! Not much else to say. . . .

Mead (Huzzah!)

2007-07-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

My second attempt at mead has met with success. It's a mellow mead that smells a lot like a dry white. The taste is mild and more full that a traditional Ethiopian wine and a lot less dry. The next experiment will be flavoring mead with fruit.

The no frills method suggested by Sandorkraut in the book Wild Fermentation worked very well.
~Eikon

2007-07-06T18:38:00.001-07:00

2007-07-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

The joys of the UKRAINIAN deli

2007-07-06T13:07:00.001-07:00

Puppy

2007-07-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yak at the farmers market

The Garden at the Beginning of July

2007-07-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

So the garden has prospered in this past month.

I walked out tis afternoon to look at my plants and was happy to see my little pepper plant producing. I've never grown peppers before and so didn't know what to expect.

The Basil and Eggplants are thriving and while many of my marigolds did not sprout seven or eight did; I'm hoping they ward off the evil bunnies who will want to get at my eggplants.

My green peppers are each growing happily and all have flowers ; this one has an oddly curved onion flower about to bloom behind it.

Speaking of onion flowers, I personally think they are rather lovely.

Though I really like tomato flowers they have such an expectant smell. Here are a few on one of my brandywine plants.

All of the Roma and Pear tomato plants have fruits on them.

The Pears are easy to see though you have to dig around in the foliage for the Romas.

I was very happy to see the first Brandywine Fruit and noticed one on My Kellogg's Breakfast plant. That leaves the Black cherry tomato (which finally has flowers) and the Zebra Roma's as the last plants to develop fruit.

My Dill has made a come back and I hope to have enough to make pickles in a few weeks when the first cucumbers hit the market. I'm a little concerned that it has already gone to flower but I think it will be ok.

Finally in obeisance to Flopper's Iowan heritage he planted a very late row of corn that we may or may not see any sweet corn from. The rows in the fields are easily thrice as high as our little guys but we can hope.

With much gardening love,

~Eikon

Happy fourth!

2007-07-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!
Take some time enjoy your freedom, while we still have it.

Behold the Jam

2007-06-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

Behold the Jam that Riseth in the East! .... I don't know there have been more ridiculous attempts at spirituality. Above is pictured a bottle of strawberry syrup and I must say I do love the color of strawberry syrup.

I made 12 half pint jars (the cutest size ever) of strawberry jam.

First I had to cut the tops off 12 cups of strawberries.

Then i mashed them in my Baba's bowl (you've got to love the indestructible 60's Corell). My pastry cutter serves many functions in the kitchen.

Then you bring everything to a boil on the stove. I forgot to add the pectin until after things were heated up and don't know how much of an impact that will have.

The jam bubbles and froths; hence the apron.

I accidentally took a picture in mid bubble.

The syrup was made by boiling the strawberries for about twenty minutes straining out the fruit and then adding a ton of sugar. I'll tell the recipients of the syrup to refrigerate it but my hunch is that the sugar content is so high it won't spoil. I made about 3 liters of it. Fruit syrups are a very eastern European sort of thing and the only ones you can buy in the US are imported from Poland. DC people can go to Literri's and find it hidden in a corner by the olives.

Finally after 2 hours picking and 2 hours of preparation my first attempt at jam and canning are completed. I'll construct a small chapel to it later this evening. :)

~Eikon

Strawberries!

2007-06-29T12:00:00.001-07:00

As a child in the Appalachians of Pa you are require to go pick berries in the summer. They are everywhere. Strawberries in the meadows, blueberries on the pole lines, thickets of blackberries and tiny little pink teaberries in the forest. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of picking berries.

So when Flopper texted me at ten saying a local strawberry place was open I rushed over there and started picking.
It took about two hours to pick two quarts ; we had a hot flash last week and the week before that caused the berries to ripen before they were very large , but they are so very tasty. So this evening after cleaning up the house we are going to be making preserves and I'm certain to take many pictures and post about it. Tomorrow I think I'll make a colonial shortcake and may post the instructions for that as well.

Hugs,

~Eikon

Elizabeth Edwards for President?

2007-06-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

This woman has balls.

Extremely Pink Saurkraut

2007-06-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Much To Flopper's Joy my sauerkraut has moved from the crock on our counter into these four jars which will be put in a dark cupboard to continue fermentation.

My Preserving Food Without Canning or Freezing book offered this as a viable alternative to using a weighted crock so we'll see if it works.

It certainly tastes like weak sauerkraut and smells like really smelly sauerkraut.

We'll see what a month in cupboard does to it.

~Eikon

Tyings Times for Tomatos

2007-06-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

I came home from Pride and Flopper had tied up the tomatoes onto my latticework using a cashmere blend I had left over from a hat.

I think it is safe to say that our tomatoes are rather gay.

~Eikon

Elias the Rottcollie?

2007-06-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

So, eiKonnie goes to this gay barber in Minneapolis that is a show dog judge. Since he's quite fond of the canine species he allows customers to bring their dogs into the shop. Apparently he told Jason that we had been misinformed regarding the breedmix of Eli. We were told when we adopted him that he was a rottwiler/shepherd mix. According to Barber Show-dog judge. says that Eli is probably part collie.
I do say, I was quite surprised. We've always sort of ignored Eli's description because he's not big enough to be a mix of the first two breeds. I guess we figured he was some sort of farm mutt. And that he is. Apparently his form, especially his back legs are much like a collie body:

Apparently, so too are his ears collie like. I'm not sure if I see it.
d

Apparently his temperament is pretty similar. The reputable wikipedia states:

Collies are known to be generally sweet and protective. They are generally easy to train due to a high level of intelligence and a willingness to please. Some collies are a bit clingy, but this is often seen as an overdeveloped sense of loyalty. They are excellent herding dogs and benefit from the companionship of a family or other dogs. Collies are very playful and gentle around children. They can also exhibit a strong herding instinct, especially around children.

Sweet - check
Protective - check
Intelligence - not so much
Clingy - Check
Herder - Check
Playful with kids - Check

~~~~Eikon's Addendum

My barber said border collie ( which is similar to but a different breed than the standard collie which is basically a border collie crossed with borzoi two centuries or so ago) and in reviewing Eli's original paperwork his former owners claimed he could herd cows. I totally want to set him loose in a her of animals to see what he does.

~Eikon

Banana Bread and Morels

2007-06-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

I made some banana bread today in my lovely bread bowl and have been nibbling on th wheat bread I made last night (which was ugly but tasty) I am pleased that my banana bread is not ugly.

Here in the midwest people are rather into a mushroom called the morel. Apparently people guard their morel gathering spots with their lives and the little blighters are prohibitively expensive anywhere else in the country. Here they cost six dollars for a small container courtesy of the local mushroom growers Forest Mushrooms.

Thanks to an NPR story (all good things are from NPR) we will de eating this meal tonight.

Pasta with Morel Cream Sauce

Morels have a tendency to turn cream a bit gray with prolonged contact, so in this recipe, they are sauteed separately then mixed with the cream at the last minute.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 to 4 medium shallots, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound morels, rinsed in cold water and drained on paper towels

1 cup heavy cream

1 pound dried fettucine or taglierini (or 1 1/2 pounds fresh pasta)

Fresh chives, snipped

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it just shimmers. Add the minced shallots and a pinch of salt and saute until just beginning to color, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the morels and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, remove the morels to a plate and reserve, leaving the aromatics in the pan. Add the cream to the pan and slowly simmer to reduce by nearly half.

Meanwhile, cook the dried pasta in the boiling, salted water until just al dente. If using fresh pasta, wait until the cream sauce is nearly done and cook the fresh pasta for just 2 to 3 minutes.

Drain the pasta and transfer to a warm serving bowl. Add the morels to the cream and heat briefly. Toss the morel cream sauce with the pasta and scatter with chives.

Serve immediately.

~~~~~~

Yummy,

~Eikon

Christening the bread bowl

2007-06-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself and was compelled to bake some bread.

So I pulled out my Large Type New York Times Cookbook and found this recipe.

I really like this particular cookbook for easy to make "American Food". 15 minutes later my dough was ready to rise.

After our 2 mile evening walk with the lovable furball I shaped it into a loaf and tossed it into the oven for the required 40 minutes with a pan of water (not sure what this does but the recipe called for it.

With this rather ugly but I'm sure tasty loaf being the result at midnight. One of the reasons I prefer round loaves or braided loaves is that they just tend to look nicer when they are done.

I love my new bread bowl and I bet Flopper will love the bread.

~Eikon

Bread Bowl

2007-06-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

So I have been wanting a bread bowl for quite some time now. And this was waiting for me at the "Lemonade Art Fair" .

The God of Queer Kitchen Items Smiled.

I was especially pleased to learn that I could bake in it if I want to and it is large enough to knead two large loaves of bread in.

The potter explained that the leaves are made by placing leaves from a tree in the underglaze, putting the over glaze on top and then the leaves and the glaze atop them burn up as the kiln fires leaving the pattern.

My grandmother and Baba were weeping in heaven that I was making bread in a plastic tub. They were both thrifty ladies but drew the line at plastic.

~Eikon

2007-06-20T20:26:00.001-07:00

Having bought each of these three books at least twice in the last decade i decided picking up a hard cover was in order. I don't give away hard cover books

One year of Elias

2007-06-16T20:21:00.001-07:00

This week we celebrate our one year aniversary. It was a year ago that we rescued him from the Humaine Society. Upon reflecting on our year together, I have come to be most grateful for his dutiful cuddling and his unconditional love. Those of you who read, know that we're not the biggest fan of St. Closet. In fact, our lives are generally unhappy here - but having something that needs us so much is so fulfilling. I guess, I could even say that Elias' presence has in many ways saved us from the monotony of the bland lives we live.

Anyway, here's a quick recap of our year together. May we have many more happy years with Elias.

Stoic in the snow.

Holy Thursday good shepherd pose.

Another model pose from Elias, he could be a pro.
He hasn't grown much since we got him at 8 months. He's still a skinny thing, and maintains a very shiny and soft coat. Hmm. . . a fur coat. . .
Eli wet at the dog park.

Eli's adorable, give me some, look.

Sometimes when Eik gets out of bed, Elias isn't ready to get up yet.

We're all about afternoon cuddle sessions.

Our christmas picture.

2007-06-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

The first tomatoes of the year

Latvian Mittens!

2007-06-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

So here is my first mitten from the Latvian Mitten Book.

It's amazing how much knitting I can get done in four hours of classes; though I do make more mistakes in knitting when I do it in class.

I started the color work Monday and really enjoy it as the completion of each row seems like a palpable accomplishment.

~Eikon

New Bumper Stickers

2007-06-10T21:11:00.001-07:00

Now all we need is the HRC sticker for in the middle.

Grand Portage National Monument and the High Falls

2007-06-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

Before the Gathering began we wandered about the North Shore for a few days. The most surprising and enjoyable experience was a few miles from the Canadian Border in Grand Portage, Mn.

The monument is a preserved fur trading station and a reconstructed stockade.

It is particularly noted for it canoe workshop where they make period birch bark canoes used by the fur trade. The largest canoes are among the most amazing vessels I have ever seen at 40 feet long and capable of carrying 2500 lbs.
Remarkably this vessel weighs 500lbs ; which is absolutely astonishing for it's size. Even with 200 years of nautical technology under our belts people haven't come up with a lighter vessel of this size.
Here's a view of the underside one of the canoes. It is made of spruce and then it is covered in birch bark pieces sewn together with spruce roots. The seam are tarred over with a boiled down mixture of pines gum a spruce sap.

The main compound was impressive with a lovely but very small bake oven.

This delightful china setting in the main hall.

And finally some very beautiful birch baskets on the top shelf; unfortunately it is a felony to steal from a national monument But I was sorely tempted to make off with the baskets.

After Flopper indulged my historical chatting with the historic interpreters we headed norrth to the Pigeon River which marks the border between the US and Canada to look at the High Falls. They are 120 feet (very high for the midwest) and are the second highest falls on Laake Superior. The US is on the left and Canada is on the right.
I thought about crossing downstream to have a few moments of legal equality but decided the water was rather cold and so stayed stateside.

~Eikon

The Iron Range

2007-06-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Iron Range of Minnesota reminded me distressingly of my homeland in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania. Same dying towns and immigrant descended populations scraping out an existence with next to no economy to support them.

We found two churches in Chisholm; one being Russian Orthodox and the other a Serbian Orthodox (the latter being quite the rarity).

This rather large statue of an iron miner is also in Chisholm and claims to be the 4th largest such monument (free standing and metal) in the United States.

Lastly the town supported a dwindling Italian community (extraordinarily rare for the upper Midwest outside of a large city like Chicago or Milwuakee) and here is a picture of the local pasta manufacturer.

Pennsylvania supplied the coal, Minnesota the iron; Carnegie got to found a whole slue of libraries from the proceeds.

~Eikon

My Socks are finished

2007-06-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here they are in the impromptu shrine Flopper constructed for them at Kawashaway.

: )

~Eikon

2007-06-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Eli on the shore of lake superior in a tide pool

Having Returned from Iowa We go to Kawashaway!

2007-06-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

o
We are Back in Saint Cloud for 18 hours and then are off to Kawashaway in the glorious Northwoods. Iowa was as always lovely and I picked up a #2 Stoneware crock for making sauerkraut at an antique store in the Dying Town of Casey, IA. It was 30 dollars and I have InterLibraryLoaned the book Wild Fermentation by the Short Mountain faerie Sanderkraut to aid me in my cabbage fermenting process. Oddly enough it holds exactly 28 cups of water or 1 and 3/4 gallons. I know they didn't believe in standard sizes back in the days of yore but this strikes me as a particularly odd size.

Back in Guthrie Center I wandered into one of the local antique stores and noticed this little stack of very abused cast iron.
I have no idea what the person who desecrated these implements of culinary worship did to them but it is going to entail a few hours with steel wool and re seasoning to bring them to usability. I only really wanted the small pot and will gift the two pans to a certain faerie who will appreciate their origins and cost of less than ten dollars for all three pieces.

We are taking a round about way up to Finland, MN this time. We both wanted to see the Iron range towns and will go through Chisholm and Ely and then swing down to the Northshore in time to set up camp and go to sleep.

Lots of love and expect many photos,

~Eikon

Marilyn Neeley

2007-06-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

A faculty member at my undergrad died, Marilyn Neeley. Sometimes you don't know how amazing a person is until you read her obituary.

2007-06-04T12:31:00.001-07:00

Driving my new wheels

Sock Progress

2007-06-02T19:17:00.001-07:00

After a brief interlude during which I completed a hat I have once again taken up my DP needles to work on my pretty blue socks. They are made of Tofutsies
; which is a lovely yarn comprised of wool, soy silk, cotton, and chitin (fiber from crab and shrimp shells. This is the "Best Foot Forward" color way and I personally doubt the addition of seafood does anything but it is a lovely yarn to work with . I started them at 54 stitches and then increased to 62 after the ribbing because my previous sock just aren't tight enough. It seems to have done the trick.

~Eikon

They are adorable in an ugly sort of way

2007-06-02T11:38:00.001-07:00

Well i think they are cuter^

2007-06-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Geese invasion

Our garden at the beginning of June

2007-06-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

So our garden is progressing nicely. I set up my stakes/strings for the tomatoes last week and am happy to report that they are growing well.

Last week when we went into Minneapolis I gave some tomatoes to friends and promptly received more than I gave. The fellow attached to the pole here is a Black Cherry Tomato and after seeing Peatmoss' garden I decided to try this technique as an experiment. I doubt I'll have this much space where ever I move next year and so am interested in conserving it. My dill patch is coming in nicely along the side of the plot and the green beans have not yet been assaulted by bunnies. We're hoping the scent of numerous dogs keeps the away.

I also got a cayenne pepper plant form Rocky who told me that they grow fine if they are in a pot; apparently they need warm soil. I bought a six pack of bell peppers at the Saint Joseph's Farmer's market and put them in today as well. Flopper really likes bell peppers and I have fond memories of having them stuffed as a child for Sunday dinner.
Most of my sunflowers were eaten by an unknown assailant but here are the two remaining ones next to my row of Brandywine Tomatoes. I planted some more and they have just come up in the past few day; I'm hoping a few of them survive as I'm rather in love with sunflowers.

~Eikon

Bumper Stickers

2007-06-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

This monday, we're picking up our new Toyota. In order to provide for a little pre-celebration, we chose our bumper stickers.

Final Faerie Hat

2007-05-31T21:06:00.001-07:00

I started this last night after dinner and finished it a few minutes ago. It's made out of a ball and 1/4 of Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran (55 merino/35 microfiber/ 10 cashmere) and will be gifted to Munkee at the Spirit Gathering Next week. 92 stitches on size 6 using the Half dome in the Round pattern off Yarn Boy's site. Now back to the sock.

~Eikon

2007-05-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Eli in the mississippi

2007-05-29T19:14:00.001-07:00

Sock one done in four days which is really fast for me : i knit rather slowly

2007-05-28T13:06:00.001-07:00

Baby robins under the deck

A Year in MN

2007-05-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

It should be noted that the 23rd of this month marked our one year anniversary in MN. Only one more year to go and I think it is going to pick up speed as the months role by. I've student teaching both semesters and Flopper and I both have job searches, graduation, and another move come next May all waiting in the wings.

The end of the exile is approaching!

~Eikon

2007-05-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sock progess since thursday

Ellen Visits Saint cloud

2007-05-25T17:31:00.001-07:00

And what do you do in Saint Cloud , MN?

Sit on the couch for hours and Watch DVD's of Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman.

And be licked by Elias.
Our lives are thrilling.

~Eikon

A quick Minneapolis Trip

2007-05-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

We went into the city last night and stayed as usual with the ever kind and inestimable Redwing. Thursday evening we saw the Notre Dame Folk Choir. We went with Two Bears who seemed glad for our company if indifferent about the music.

Awaking early in a lovely manner (air mattresses are not stable) we went to drop off tomatoes to a few faeries and subsequently acquired more. My tomatoes were rather small in comparison to the other faeries tomatoes and I was slightly embarrassed though pleased to aquire a few more tomato varieties (we now have six types).

Flopper and I parted ways; the in the van to get Ellen (pictured above with Flopper) and I on my bike in a valiant attempt to avoid the Mall of America which for some particularly cruel reason visitors to MN want to see.

I explored the city on my bike and made a few purchases.

This mitten book has my heart aflutter and I look forward to churning out a few Latvian mittens ere winter returns .

The charts are amazing and the color pictures are really rather impressive.

And of course whenever I go into civilization I get a bit of odd queer theory to read (the sock is what I'm working on at the moment: It's made of soy silk, wool, and chitin from crab shells.) Gay and Gaia. Now how could I pass that up?

And of course here is the requisite picture of Eli in which Flopper seems to be about to crush him.

~Eikon

2007-05-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Chihuahuas are disgustingly cute

Wisconsin Faerie Hats

2007-05-23T20:00:00.001-07:00

We went to Wisconsin over the weekend for Flopper's sister's graduation as a midwife during which time I finished these two hats.

This is made of Noro and I think will go to a lucky faerie who has not yet been determined.

This one is made of Malabrigo angora in plum with a strip of "Billy Blue" and is going to Mecca who lives and Duluth and is lacking much hair making such a hat doubly useful to him.

I'll deliver them at the spirit gathering.

~Eikon

2007-05-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

2007-05-20T07:10:00.001-07:00

Finished Finish

2007-05-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

The Beautiful Churches of Stearns County, MN

2007-05-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

2007-05-16T12:09:00.001-07:00

Double layer apple bar served at the copper kettle in albany MN

Table Staining

2007-05-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Flopper and I embarked of a table staining that we had put off for almost a year.

The weather warmed up so we thought it would be a good idea to get to work on sanding and staining.

Tommorow we'll put the varnish on.

Eli seemed interested in the activities but made no move to help with either the sanding or staining.

Lazy puppy.

~Eikon

Tomatoes under glass , Eli, and the ubiquitous feather and fan

2007-05-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

So in an effort to keep my little tomatoes alive I have placed them all under glass. Fortunately Mason Jars are cheap and I'll need them for canning the plethora of tomatoes that will result from a dozen plants.

I have been working on a little feather and fan scarf which may end up as an icon cloth.

And here is a picture of Eli because you can never have too many. He's lounging in the chair he sleeps on.

~Eikon

Queer punk 80's bag

2007-05-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

For a certain faerie boy in Oregon. I knit it with Hempathy.

Eli is not impressed.

~Eikon

Garden and pirogi

2007-05-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

,=

So our garden is tilled and ready for our happy little plants to go in.

After talking to Dan today I forgot that I had neglected to plant oregano or rosemary. Fortunately the Co Op had some plants so I got one of each and two basil just in case my basil doesn't come up.

I spent the better part of this afternoon making pierogi.

MMMM. I'm going to go boil them now.

~Eikon

2007-05-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

Graduation cake at the local grocery store

Hemp Hat

2007-05-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

I've been all about the Hempathy lately(its hemp, cotton, and modal; what is modal?). This hat is 120 stitches on 3's around and is K2 P2 with a cable on the rib every 4th row. I used the needleless cabling method that I saw in passing regarding the "Shifting Sand Scarf" that Brooklyn Tweed did a few months back and thought this was a good opportunity to learn it.

I made it for Flopper to wear while biking because his hair is just the right thickness for bugs to get caught in it instead of glancing off. This hat is an attempt avoid this fate.

The reductions started as one every needle every three rows and then carried for about 4 inches. I then switched to a reduction every two rows finishing off with one every row. I don't really like the top but the hat was getting too long. As it stands it looks cute on Flopper and hopefully will not be too warm.

I have three hats lined up and am looking forward to them.

Eikon

Mead Bottled

2007-05-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well I bottled the mead today. 4 bottles to a gallon with about 3/4 of a bottle left over. Apparently it needs to mellow for a month and then will be drinkable. It didn't taste bad or good really. Here's hoping my little experiment pans out.

~Eikon

Eastern Market Fire

2007-04-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

When Eik and I lived in D.C. one of our favorite typical saturday morning outings was to the Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. We loved the festive atmosphere, the flee market, the latino tortilla place, and especially the cheese shop in the market itself, and the soap lady, did I mention the soap lady.

Anyway, a fire ripped through the building causing 20 million dollars worth of damage.

This is such a beautiful place to spend a Saturday morning and we're deeply saddened by it's destruction. Maybe by the time we end up back in d.c. it will be all fixed up and pretty. :-)

JM

2007-04-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Reciped for paper writing: nuts diet root beer. eat as mindlessly as possible

Dog Saliva Saves!

2007-04-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Someone mentioned at the dog park that dog saliva has healing properties. I decided to look this up. Sure enough, I found a website that seems to agree with the claim.

Flopper painting

2007-04-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

I came from work at 2 am to find this lovely gift from Flopper. Sunflowers and poppies are near to my heart. I bought him a number of canvases as a gift and this is his first painting in more than a year.

I have such a sweet man.

~Eikon

Dear God,

2007-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Dear God,
Why do you sully my life with conservative a$$es. Hmm. . .

2007-04-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not readx to come in yet

2007-04-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

My student.s are badly forging georgia okeefe flowers

Bibliophilia

2007-04-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

Now on the way to school I bike by the used bookstore in town. A gem of a little store that is only slightly over priced in the arena of hard covers I avoided going in on the way to school but succumbed to temptation on the way back.

I went in to get this book; an old favorite. I'm a dork.

Then I saw this on the clearance rack and really just had to have it in hard cover for 2 dollars. I'm a historical Dork

Then I turned around and the God of Books Smiled On me.
There was this title in the mythology section.
I pulled it off the shelf and saw this cover.
Opened it and saw this table of contents and info page.

And shouted "YES!" in the very quiet bookstore.

That was before I saw the plates.

I have problems , book problems.

~Eikon

2007-04-23T08:53:00.001-07:00

More scary wall poetry in my class room

This has been a You are Dated Moment

2007-04-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

So the common ground that I have with my guy students lies in video games. One of the my students asked me what my favourite system was.

I said "Old school nintendo."

He said "Oh yeah 64 is great."

I said "No; NES"

He looked at me like I was a dinosaur reconstituted from DNA trapped in amber.

He's less than a decade younger than me.

~Eikon

Is it really morning?

2007-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Since Eik works nights, I often get up, and a certain puppy takes my place in beed. I was amused by this particular posture. Eli is making an "eli-ball" with his hind leg over his nose. Strange little beast.

bike!

2007-04-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, It's my new bike. At the risk of sounding like a vain teenager, I wasn't going to post this picture because I look so fat in it. But then I thought, now you can all see me lose weight.

I was as trim as I had ever been, when I met Eikon, and it went all downhill from there, althought it got significantly better once he got me on a bike. We biked EVERYWHERE in d.c. and I absolutely loved it, and it kept me in pretty good shape. Just before we left the city, my Bianchi had decided that it's life was over. I rode it to death. Thus I haven't biked for about a year now.

I'm so happy to have my Janus coda, I bike almost everywhere (OK, school is a little to far).

Here's my mileage for the week.

Saturday
Lake Wobegon Trail Ride - 12 miles
Trip to downtown- 1 Mile
Trip to downtown again - 1 mile

Sunday
no time for biking

Monday
Lake Wobegon trial ride -10 miles
Trip to the YMCA - 1 mile

Tuesday
To work 6miles

Wednesday
To work 6 miles

Thursday
To work 6 miles
To downtown 1 mile

Friday
To YMCA 1 mile

Total 45! I think! Yay biking.

Baby Blankey

2007-04-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

For my niece Kira. Only a year late :)

Its made from ten balls of a cotton crocheted yarn whose name I forget. I tried to make it gender non specific. Poor child is going to have enough pink as it is.

~Eikon

Paschal Pictures

2007-04-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of RedWing (pictured above with Eli)who offered up his kitchen to my cooking here are some pictures of our Easter dinner.

I made the usual Easter goodies and there were a number ok kind gentlemen in attendance.
Here I am being grumpy and tired of cooking while Flopper looks ? quizical? or alluring? (I'm not sure what that expression is.

Here's Redwing peering between my dark chocolate raspberry crepe cake and the pascha.

My Pysanky were the center piece for the dinner table and were flanked by apricot preserves for the pascha and horseraddish for the hrutka.

After dinner we had a pysanky workshop that David, Timothy, Tallgrass, Twilight, and another David? (I'm terrible at names) participated in and created some lovely eggs.

Finally Flopper , Eli, ad myself had a cuddle session that redwing was compelled to photograph.
(Again I am not certain what Flopper is doing)

It was a lovely evening.

~Eikon

warm spring days

2007-04-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Warm spring days
and bicycle rides
keep me alive.

My mother used to bike a lot,
she got hit once,
on a highway by an old man.
She was hurt.

It was in the county paper the next week.
"Cow, woman hit on 25,"
It said.
There was another accident too,
I think the cow took priority.
(because it died)

2007-04-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

In the class room

Profanity count

2007-04-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

Today in the course of two hours I preemptively stopped 6 fucks, 3 shits, and one bitch (pronounce biatchh.)

I love education.

~Eikon

High School Math

2007-04-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

So I forget much of my high school math. My memory stops at geometry and mid level algebra. I realized this when I tried to help someone do triginometry and drew a very big blank. It's one of the instances where it is hard to tell students "you'll need this" so I qualify the statement ; "you could use this".

~Eikon

Back in a Classroom

2007-04-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

So as part of my convoluted path to being an educator I am required to do a number of field experiences. A 20 hour, a 120 hour, and finally a full semester full time. I am in the midst of the 20 hour experience today at an ALC here in Saint Closet. An ALC for those of you not familiar with educationese is an Alternative Learning Center. It is where they send discipline cases without learning disabilities , though generally there are learning disabilities involved they just haven't been diagnosed.

I am in the ALC of the ALC. The program is called PLATO (I have no idea what the acronym stands for) and consists of coming into class for two hours a dasy and very slowly finishing yiur requirements for a GED. To get here you have to be kicked out of the regular school and then kicked out of the ALC.

This is the most unstructured education imaginable outside of existentialist self guided camps of thought that scare my little teaching soul. The students come in for two hous. During those two hours they do as much work as they want; genrally they work for an hour and then go play basketball. the work is given a credit equivalency and peple graduate when they accumulate a certain number of credits.

I wander about attempting to not step on my students pride and have them do their work.

Interesting times; it is good to be back in a class room.

~Eikon

The Coffee Shop in MSP

2007-04-10T21:35:00.001-07:00

Sorry Dan, the name is taken!