Glanalaw - delighting in pure song

So, I stopped at a gas station on the way home from school today to put a bit of petrol in the car (it's been running on "E" since Tuesday night.  Yes, I know.) And the cap for my gas tank wasn't there. My reaction was to give it a blank stare, and then to say "What?  What?   What??  ... WHAT."  Out loud, and with feeling.  Very much in the manner of David Tennant as the Doctor, in fact, although that did not occur to me until later. Like this. I can only assume that someone stole it, because when I tanked up last week I distinctly remember screwing it back in.  Besides, it's attached to my car -- it's not like I could drive off and leave it somewhere.  But why would you steal a gas cap?  What practical purpose does it serve, when removed from its proper place?  (If the culprit, should there actually have been one, was trying to steal gas, he would have been sadly disappointed.  I had none to give him.) It is an hour later,...

I wore high heels to school today.  This is a pretty much unheard-of occurrence -- since I'm already six feet tall, I don't feel the need to emphasise my height any further, and besides flats are far more comfortable.  But I have a singing competition coming up for which I've been informed that it's advisable to wear high heels (something about the way they make you appear onstage?) so I thought I'd get in a little practise. It's really hard to walk in 3" heels when the most you generally wear is a little 3/4" kitten heel. Also, high heels make my feet swell. When your feet swell, those shoes that fit all right at the beginning of the day are suddenly really, really  uncomfortable.  So I spent the majority of the day in excruciating pain, trying to smile when people told me how cute my shoes were.  (Well, they ARE cute.  They're lovely.  Just don't ask me to wear them more than once a year!) ** On the bus going home this afternoon, I w...

Baby/lap quilt in the shop (with much younger Conrad.  Kitten not for sale.) My friends, I've always liked leap years.  I think it probably stems from my early and ardent love for The Pirates of Penzance (in which Frederick, apprenticed to pirates until his twenty-first birthday, discovers that since he was born in a leap year on the 29th of February, his twenty-first birthday will not happen for a very long time to come and he has in fact had only 5 birthdays.) In which they explain poor Frederick's birthday to him.  I have no idea why the orchestration is so bizarre. Anyway.  Leap years!  This is one.  And so in honour of that, I thought I would have a sale in my Etsy shop!  For no other reason than because this year has a 29th of February and I think that's pretty cool. Cowl in the shop. From now until the end of the month (through midnight on March 1) I'll be offering a coupon code for 10% off anything  in my shop.  This incl...

The Sunday afternoon outfit/photo post seems to be becoming a regular feature.  Today's isn't so much about the clothes, though -- it's about hair! I think I've wanted curly hair for as long as I can remember.  Back when I was 7 or 8, I remember putting my hair in numerous tiny braids, trying to get some body.  (I probably looked more like Ms. Frizzle than anything else, but it pleased my tiny mind at the time!) More recently, I've tried all kinds of ways to get my hair to hold curl.  It's naturally straight, straight, straight, and curls often fall out less than an hour after putting them in.  I've tried foam rollers, hot rollers, curling irons both large and small, rag curls, pin curls... and none of them really worked.  (Well - when I had really short hair pin curls worked, but I looked like Shirley Temple, which was a bit unfortunate since I was 20 at the time...) Then a few weeks ago I tried the tutorial for "Sarah Jessica Parker" curl...

I have to write a paper for my music analysis class.  Normally writing papers is no big deal.  I've been writing essays pretty much as long as I can remember... I have a minor in English... I like writing. But I've never written a paper for a music theory class.  And I never, ever  write my papers following any kind of regimented schedule.  (You know: write an outline.  Write the introduction.  Whatever.) For this class, I have to write the introduction first.  Which I guess makes sense - start with telling what you're going to write about?  Start with the hypothesis/thesis?  Okay.  Except I've always written papers by just diving in -- describing what I see, what I think, what might be going on -- and out of the rambling I figure out what I'm actually trying to say.  THEN I write the introduction. (Yes - I've usually written at least four pages before I figure out exactly what my thesis is.  I'm sure this is very un...

I wrote this post on Sunday and was going to post it yesterday... but I forgot, and now it seems appropriate for Valentine's Day, so here you are! I've been knitting mug cozies lately.  They're just little bands of knitting (or cloth) which wrap around your mug or your cup and serve the double purpose of keeping the mug warm and saving your hands from being burned. The first one I knit was just a simple strip with a cable down the middle.   It's not finished yet though because it needs a button and I can't find my button jar .  (Finished it last night but it's a little short, so I'm keeping it as a prototype.)  So I knit another one, and I taught myself some new techniques! I wanted to knit something with hearts on it, because I had scraps of red and white wool and it just seemed appropriate.  But I wanted a nice finish on both sides.  So I taught myself double knitting! Scraps - my work station. I had to learn to do the tubular cast-on.  I...

This is another dress I finished quite a while ago (in the fall of 2010, in fact) and never got decent pictures of.  These still aren't great - the self-photography idea didn't work quite as well this week as it did last time! - but they're better than nothing! It's hard to believe that a week ago I was cavorting about in a thin silk dress and a light cotton sweater.  Today it was just above freezing and I was glad of my wool coat and the cowl and the stockings and the gloves! I made this dress as a costume for a play at Union back in my senior year.  It wasn't actually made for me, but the girl who wore it ( my best friend ) and I manage to share clothes despite being built totally differently, so at the end of the play I got to keep it.  All I had to do was let the sleeve hems down. I did iron it this morning.  But then I sat on it during church.  Sigh. The pattern is a repro from 1946.  (Can't find the pattern online now to link to it......

This week is not one I'd care to repeat any time soon (or ever.)  But I think I've learned some lessons... so here they are, interspersed with photos of the latest item in the shop. They always tell you to keep records of your money - what you spend and what you earn.  Do this. If you don't do this, you will end up with an overdrawn bank account. As if you're not poor enough already when you've overdrawn your account, the bank will then charge you a fee for doing so. When you buy a car, first thing you should do is run (don't walk) to the hardware store and get an extra key made.  Or possibly three. I didn't do this. If you don't do this, don't lock your keys in your car. I did do that. If you're going to lock your keys in the car, don't pick the coldest night of the winter so far on which to do it. And don't lock your keys in the car the week your bank account is overdrawn and you've used all your free service c...

I think this is a first, two recipes in one week!  All my craft projects are in states of not-quite-finished-ness, so nothing much to blog about on that front.  Neither of these is very recipe-ish -- my cooking tends to be rather inexact and spur-of-the-moment.  However, here's my method for potato pancakes.  These are one of my very favourite things to make for breakfast - or really any other time of day!  I like savoury breakfast foods and these are perfect. I may have gone a wee bit overboard with the butter. You want to start with mashed potatoes.  One medium/large potato is plenty for a single person, so just multiply according to how many you're cooking for.  You can use leftover mashed potatoes (the easiest way) or, as I did with these, microwave a potato until cooked, then add in milk, butter, salt and pepper to taste, just as you would for regular mashed potatoes.  When you have your mash how you like it, add in a sprinkle of parsley...

I've been hearing a lot lately about how eating wheat isn't that great for people, especially those who struggle with blood sugar levels.  Obviously that's a big concern for me, so I thought I would experiment with cutting out wheat for a while and see if it helps. This is sort of difficult.  If you know me, or if you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know I make a lot of breads.... pastas... desserts.  Especially desserts.  Bread and pasta can kind of be replaced by rice and potatoes, but what about sweets? Well, fruit is good.  (So is fudge.  Someone tell me to step away  from the fudge!)  I had a lot of frozen fruit from this past summer, as well as a few apples, so I experimented with the classic fruit cobbler/crisp/crumble/whatever-you-like-to-call-it, and came up with this. Mixed-Fruit Crumble 1 apple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1 cup other fruits, fresh or frozen (I used about equal amounts of sliced frozen peaches and strawbe...

 Amaryllis in full bloom. I have two of these beauties in my windowsill, with one more still to come later. The translucent beauty of their petals in the sunlight is mesmerising.