breispace

About to enter the last week of my vacation, which will mostly have to be spent on prepping. I’ve been a bit of a recluse this summer, and I must say I’m reluctant to get back to work and studies. My work is interesting and seldom boring, and I am slowly but surely getting better at it, but there’s many a weekend when I’m not looking forward to jumping back into the fray. Fray being the key word here; I don’t like stress. My Mondays off are gone for the coming semester too, meaning I’ll have to both prep and study on the weekend. until now I always managed to keep one day of the week devoid of work- and study-related things, but that’s going to require even tighter planning now. I don’t know how I’m going to pull that off yet. If I won the lottery now I seriously think I’d retire and find ways to spend my time that would be both useful, less stressful, and more fun.

Okay, enough with the gloom. I did do some fun things this week. For one, I finished the Arrowheads jumper/sweater/jersey/pullover and the pink scarf (can’t show that pic yet, sorry) for my colleague. Two Olympic goals achieved, yay!

I also harvested and partly processed the flax. first, I had to make a ripple to separate the seed-buds and leaves from the stalks:

then I rippled (combed, sort of) the stalks. Now they’re lying in the back of the garden, retting (a fancy name for letting the woody bits rot). Marion may have to finish the processing later.

I invented a new liquid breakfast: very filling. The recipe:
- about a handful of blackberries or other tasty fruit;
- 2-3 heaped tablespoons of crushed porridge oats or Weetabix;
- liquid or powdered sweetener to taste.
Blend thoroughly with yoghurt (up to 1 litre) and keep in the fridge until hungry.

According to this BBC programme calcium helps to pass some fat through the body undigested, and blending your food to a soup with water will help you to ward off hunger pangs for longer than just having a glass of water with your food does. Plain water passes through the stomach very quickly because there are no nutrients in it, and so it hardly expands the stomach, which is what makes you feel less hungry. Conclusion (unless you want to eat goo every day): have a glass of low-fat milk with your meal. I may try that for lunch at work, or even on the tea-break.

I always love it when dragonflies visit my garden. One of my neighbours has a pond, although she doesn’t maintain it. Which is good: wildlife usually doesn’t (don’t?) like manicured gardens. My excuse for leaving things a bit of a mess in places.  Maybe the brown frog will stop by tomorrow.

For those of you still not familiar with that addictive knitters’ online dwelling that is Ravelry, look here. As the Olympic Games have begun, so have the Ravelympics, and I decided to enter all my WIPs by way of a big stick (behind the door). The event is called WIPswrestling, and the idea is to have all my WIPs finished by the closing ceremony on the 24th. I’ve been invited to the Oddball group (Rav link) and I’ve also joined Team Hopelessly Overcommitted (dito). The fanclub is in position and ready to assist.

The weeks of my summer vacation are slipping like very dry sand through my fingers. It’s an enormous luxury not having to get up at the crack of dawn, taking time over coffee, not taking my shower before ten, letting breakfast slip into brunch, etc. etc. I try to spend some time on the to-do-list every day, leaving the rest for knitting, friends and other pastimes. For instance, I’ve (re-)created some storing space:

My nails have never been this long. They’re going to have to be cut down to normal proportions because I want to throw some viking cups and bowls next week (no, not that kind of throwing; this kind involves clay and a potter’s wheel).

Last week’s film: I went to see Hancock with Nantko. I give it one thumb up. Interesting plot twists, but most of the characters were a bit flat. Drinks at Mulligans afterwards, of course.

This week’s film: Wall-E , this time with Kees, and preceded by Japanese food at “Tempura”. Two thumbs up this time, very funny. An animated sci-fi rom-com; three genres for the price of one. I really liked the name of the mega-corporation responsible for the total pollution of planet Earth: Buy n Large. A good pun on mega-consumerism and on destroying the world by and by. Kees’ report and t-shirt of the day here.