The year so far....

Cooked: Pasta-made-from-scratch with pesto from our own basil, made with oven roasted garlic (just because I had some) and lemon-infused olive oil (ditto).
Roast lamb with fresh rosemary and sage from our garden and roast potatoes. That's for tonight, but I cooked it yesterday. I'm going to roast some zuchinis and pine nuts to have with it and, while I have the oven on, I'm going to cook a curry. I hate putting the oven on for just one thing these hot days.

Knitted: Have begun my Cat Bordhi new directions sock - The Foxglove. It seems a little too big to me though my guage is unexpectedly right. I messed up the beginning of the fountain pattern - went against my instinct and followed what I thought were the pattern's instructions. Totally messed up the provisional cast on that's supposed to be so easy by somehow having the garter ridges on the outside - but I can live with that. I think I can also live with the size. I'm going to keep going anyway. I'm flying by instinct but I figure I'll have a better grasp on how it all works by the end, even if I do make some mistakes.

Spun: I've been working on spinning samoyed hair (donated by the girlchild's boyfriend's mother. I've mixed this with English Leicster for sock yarn. The samoyed is very fluffy - like angora, but with guard hairs. The spinning is very slubby. The colours - white and brown - look good together. How resilient it will be as sock yarn is another matter - and as to the felting possibilities, I couldn't say. I imagine it will felt well - dog hair tends to matt. This could be a good thing if I make socks that are big enough. Which is my intention.

Reading: Stephanie Alexander's Journal, The Historian and this morning, started Janet Turner Hospital's Orpheus Lost. I've been meaning to read this ever since I read a review of it in Good Reading. I like Turner Hospital's work and I'm always intrigued by her ideas. Had to wrench myself away from the book to do some ...

Writing: Magenta - not only am I close to finishing the first (second and completely different draft) chapter, but I also dredged up the first draft I'd done which turned out to be more than I thought, which is a good thing. Also - but this was last year (just) so does it count? another Rapunzel poem.

Movies: Darjeeling Limited at the Cameo Cinema, outdoors. I do love the outdoor cinema. The trains cruising into Belgrave station just add atmosphere and I love the way night falls. I also love the way men of a certain generation and older help their partners with their deck chairs. The Accountant does, of course. That may be an act of self-preservation - I do tend to wave them around wildly, trying to find out which way is up. I like eating a choc top under the stars. I like sharing The Accountant's coat when it gets cold.

I also loved Darjeeling Limited - it has a random kind of feel to it, even though the narrative was shaped - we never really find out what is shaping it. The alliances between the three brothers shift, their relationship with their father is hinted at but never revealed, their mother, although sighted and heard, disappears, their partners remain largely off screen. I enjoyed that mysteriousness. The Accountant, I think, felt it a little frustrating. Visually the film was superb - a lush, obsessive attention to detail. Also, how can you not fall for Adrien Brody? Well, okay - perhaps The Accountant can't.