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September 27, 2007

Things That Make Me Go Hmmm

Here's some random goodies for a Thursday.

~I am having major laptop issues. It's fine while in the docking station at work but at home - oy. The laptop isn't recognizing the wireless network, it freezes at random moments, sometimes it reboots and sometimes it doesn't. Luckily, the library trustees authorized me to order a new laptop a few weeks ago. Now if it would only arrive!

~Do you watch Big Love? I do and I love it. It's eerie how much it mimics some real life situations out there in Utah and I have to admit to a sick sort of fascination with polygamy. It's like a car wreck - I know I shouldn't look but I can't help myself. So, when I visited Margene last week and she offered to drive me past the old Warren Jeffs compound I jumped at the chance.

jeffs_compound1.jpg

jeffs_compound2.jpg

Of course, now he's been convicted of the charges brought against him. Score one for the good guys.

~Weight Watchers continues but slowly. I actually lost a pound while on vacation but had a hard time getting back into the swing of things when I got home. Slow and steady, though. This weight didn't come on in a month and it won't come off that quickly, either.

~Yesterday I heard someone say they were "happy as a clam" and I got to thinking. What makes a clam happy anyway?

gbff_roving.jpg

~While at the Great Basin Fiber Fair we took a class in dyeing roving for striped socks. The class itself was lame and we got no real information on how to actually do anything. But we managed to muddle through together and wound up with some roving that doesn't really look too bad.

~This one is especially for Norma: fry sauce is good.

fry_sauce.jpg

The end.

Posted by Carole at September 27, 2007 6:45 AM

Comments

Our roving really does look pretty good. Now if we had only been told the best way to spin it for socks. Mmmm, fry sauce...it was fun to have some while you were here, but I'm trying to stay away from it now. ;-)

Posted by: margene at September 27, 2007 7:29 AM

I believe that the full saying is Happy as a Clam at High Tide!

Posted by: Carla at September 27, 2007 7:34 AM

Fry sauce.....ick! LOL

I will be sure to watch some Big Love this year!

Posted by: Kim at September 27, 2007 7:44 AM

Love "Big Love"! Especially Margene!!

Posted by: Deb at September 27, 2007 8:01 AM

Big Love? Haven't heard of it, guess I need to crawl out from under my rock. I am aware of the Warren Jeff's saga...how twisted is that?!

Way to go on the WW loss!!

Lovely fiber...and what I wouldn't give for a big, fat dripping, crispy french fry...(oh man, I drooled on my keyboard)

Posted by: Robin in VA at September 27, 2007 8:23 AM

Oh, those fries look good! Good luck on your weight loss. I need to be doing that, too.

Posted by: Beth at September 27, 2007 8:26 AM

My car wreck tv...rock of love.

Posted by: Kathleen at September 27, 2007 8:37 AM

Nope on the Big Love, but I have heard of Warren Jeffs and am really glad that bastard is going to jail.
There's a good book on dyeing for striping yarn called "Yarns to Dye For".
In Belgium they serve fries with mayonnaise. Just saying.
Way to go on the WW!

Posted by: Marcia Cooke at September 27, 2007 8:45 AM

High tide and breathing in plankton make a clam happy.

Posted by: Chris at September 27, 2007 8:47 AM

Love "Big Love". It's a fascinating and fun show, isn't it? Warren Jeffs? Ewww.

Posted by: Annie at September 27, 2007 8:47 AM

Surprise! Your roving looks good.
Are those fries from Crown Burger???

Posted by: susan at September 27, 2007 8:59 AM

Wow, there's a lot of everything in this post! I have no idea what makes clams happy! I'm not even sure they're capable of feeling happy!

Posted by: Erin at September 27, 2007 9:00 AM

Fry sauce is good. We bought some at a burger place to bring back to the East Coast with us when we were last out in SLC.

And speaking of polygamists, Rudi's family had two houses (theirs and his grandmother's) that his dad ultimately sold to a clan. I was creeped out by the idea, but I suppose you can't really deny someone the sale just because of their weird marital habits.

Posted by: sprite at September 27, 2007 9:01 AM

Heh - I was just watching episode 5 of Big Love the other day (I don't have cable, but I'm watching the DVDs). Chloe was wearing a lovely cardigan with an embroidered yoke. Every time I saw her, I kept thinking "Tangled Yoke Cardigan!". Then I wondered if Eunny watches Big Love. Hee Hee.

Posted by: Cheryl S. at September 27, 2007 9:02 AM

Yup. Fry sauce is goooooood.

I don't have HBO, and therefore am Big Loveless. WAH! I saw most of the first season at my brother's house last year, and I loved it. Maybe I can get the episodes on iTunes....

As for the weight thing--you look fabulous, grrlfriend. You're so beautiful. You'll get where you want to be.

Posted by: Kim at September 27, 2007 9:06 AM

Oh man! Now this healthy oatmeal I'm eating isn't very satisfying at all. I want some fries and fry sauce :(

Posted by: Julie at September 27, 2007 9:09 AM

I hate classes like that. But you've already done some rather successful dyeing, haven't you?

Posted by: Chris at September 27, 2007 9:19 AM

Look at all that future spinning! We are stuck on Big Love too.. I had bought Jon Krakauer's book, Under the Banner of Heaven at the SLC airport last year and was amazed at how much the HBO must have drawn upon such resources...I can empathize about the plateaus, but some of us just have to keep at it harder than others... I'm with you in spirit, both when scarfing up a fave food and when working hard to get to my 'best weight'.

Posted by: Birdsong at September 27, 2007 9:50 AM

Oooh, creepy. That rusty fence kind of says it all...

And I think you made some lovely roving at the useless workshop. ;-) But ehat wheel will you spin it on? ;-) Decisions, decisions...

Posted by: Beth S. at September 27, 2007 10:10 AM

How many points do you have to count for fry sauce? Sure looks good. I'm certain it was worth every point.

Posted by: Wool Winder at September 27, 2007 10:11 AM

You are the first blogger I've run across to even mention 'Big Love' and yes, I DO love watching it, a crazy fascination for sure.
Mmmmm, pretty fibre.
Fry sauce? is that some kind of 'cheeze' sauce?

Posted by: marianne at September 27, 2007 10:15 AM

I was impressed with the roving until I saw the fries...

and please - what is fry sauce??

Posted by: Deirdre at September 27, 2007 10:50 AM

Hi Carole, I'm sorry you thought the class was lame. I did see people taking notes on the procedure. To mix the dyes for a 12 oz bottle, use 1/2 tsp dye powder (any acid dye) and 1/4 tsp citric acid or 1/4 cup vinegar. Shake well to mix. Wet your wool well and make sure it isn't soaking wet, nice and moist is best. Lay out the plastic wrap and place your wool on it in the center lenthwise leaving about a foot on either end to seal it. Squirt on your dyes, just making sure that you have the wool just wet. The wool will still be showing a lot of white. Fold the wrap over the wool lengthwise and then roll up the wool like a jelly roll. Steam the wool until it's too hot to touch. You will see the dyes have spread out and bit into the wool to dye it. If you let the wool cool first the dyes will go onto the wool even more. Rinse the wool or let it dry. To spin to keep the colors together, Navajo ply. Shoot for a total thickness to use either size 2 or 3 needles. I hope this helps.

Posted by: Judy at September 27, 2007 10:52 AM

Utah sounds interesting. Of course I can't talk..I grew up in Wisconsin. Jeffery Dahmer and Ed Gein.

The roving looks good! I'm excited to see it spun up. There's a way to ply it with only one ply. It's the Navajo 3 ply. (I just learned about this a couple days ago).

http://www.yarnwench.com/php/Navajo3PlyTutorial.php

It's actually a really cool technique. I'm hoping to try it once I get a spinning wheel. :D

Posted by: Teresa at September 27, 2007 11:08 AM

Susan...Crown Burger has rotten fries! The best are Eat a Berger;-)

Posted by: margene at September 27, 2007 11:12 AM

That should be Burger;-)

Posted by: margene at September 27, 2007 11:13 AM

Maybe what makes a clam happy is the same thing that makes a pig in mud happy, namely, mud. Nice roving.

Posted by: Lucia at September 27, 2007 11:30 AM

I have not seen Big Love, but I am quite interested in doing so. I'll have to check it out. I must know what this fry sauce is? Sounds like it could be good.

Posted by: Wanda at September 27, 2007 11:46 AM

Want to say thank you for posting the pickled shrimp recipie. Made it this past Sunday for tailgating at the Denver Broncos game. It was a hit! Too bad the game wasn't.

Posted by: Kel at September 27, 2007 12:34 PM

I don't watch Big Love, but I do love that Bill Paxton!

Posted by: Kathy at September 27, 2007 12:40 PM

I LOVE Big Love. I cannot wait for the second season to be on DVD!

Posted by: elizabeth at September 27, 2007 12:49 PM

I love Big Love--boy does it ever capture life in Utah. I haven't seen exactly what Warren Jeffs sentence is going to be; hopefully, it will be the maximum allowed by law.

Good luck with WW!

Posted by: Kim at September 27, 2007 12:59 PM

i like random posts like this. i don't watch big love -- don't get the channel -- but i'm all about metaphorical car wrecks. i'd probably find it fascinating. (like watching "wife swap" -- joe loves that show and i get sucked in but most of the time it just makes me squirmy)

the roving looks good though -- pretty colors.

good luck on ww. i'm working on a plan right now. i haven't posted about it yet but i will soon.

Posted by: maryse at September 27, 2007 1:14 PM

So... fry sauce is sauce for fries?

I watched the first season. Two of his three wives annoyed me, so I didn't return for season two.

Posted by: Cookie at September 27, 2007 1:36 PM

Ok. Someone enlighten me? Fry sauce? Looks for all the world like nacho cheese to me...
(and I'll admit I LOVE nachos - not so big on fries...)
(((hugs)))

Posted by: knitnana at September 27, 2007 2:07 PM

my husband and i are obsessed with Big Love! that is a really cool picture.

i'm on WW too - feel free to email me for support - we all could use it!

Posted by: Elizabeth at September 27, 2007 3:40 PM

Ohhh, fry sauce. I grew up in Utah (Tooele to be exact.) I miss the fry sauce.

The roving is lovely.

Great job on the WW. Good for you!

Posted by: Duchess at September 27, 2007 3:44 PM

No TV, and I gather Big Love is a show? Our TV broke years and years ago and we never bothered to get a new one. DD organized Anime Night at the library so she can watch videos once a month on their big screen. I catch a football game now and then at the pizza parlor. Can't bear now, though, to be a in a house where a TV is on because the noise is unnerving.

Clams like cool, clean water (usually salty), plankton, good tidal action, and neither silt nor those awful pecking birds, let alone strange bipedals with sticks and buckets!

As for the weight loss, you never want to lose more than a pound a week because any more than that can stress your liver. Slow and steady, lots of water and daily exercise, and you're on the path. Good luck!

Posted by: Sylvia at September 27, 2007 4:17 PM

I watch Big Love religiously, yuk yuk yuk :)

I confess the same morbid fascination with polygamy AND those fries :)

Posted by: Debi Leshin at September 27, 2007 4:21 PM

I think what makes clams happy is a pretty low bar. They don't need much. Unlike my cat, who wants to be held and pet all day.

Posted by: Kim at September 27, 2007 4:23 PM

I figure about fry sauce: What could be bad?! I'm a condiments hound, actually. :)

Posted by: Norma at September 27, 2007 4:24 PM

I'm a huge fan of Big Love and am so sad the season has already ended. I think my fascination stems from being a former Mormon and living in Utah. (double whammy)

Fry sauce ... yummy. Why is it you can only get that in Utah & Idaho? it's okay though, I know how to make my own.

Good luck with the weight loss. Losing a pound while on vacation is WONDERFUL!

Posted by: ~Kristie at September 27, 2007 5:08 PM

I wondered what made clams happy, too, until I learned that the whole saying was originally "happy as a clam at high tide". So nothing can eat them.

Posted by: Beth at September 27, 2007 5:14 PM

I am also intrigued by the base of society..the taboo, the secret lives. I think we all are, and this I know, that a few months without my faith, I'd probably be doing some things that a woman ought not do!!!! I'm so glad you had a nice time with Margene. I'm really hoping to meet her in the spring if I get to Utah again.

Posted by: Lynne at September 27, 2007 7:45 PM

You know, we really didn't snack in SLC. Just our meals. And remember: WWTE? Hee.

Posted by: Teresa C at September 27, 2007 11:06 PM

fry sauce? hmmm.... I got hooked on using mayo after spending time in northern Europe.. but I'm open to try new things.
and good for you continuing with weight watchers. It isn't whether you are perfect every single day, but what you choose over and over in the long run that matters.
((hugs))

Posted by: Teyani at September 28, 2007 1:11 AM

I totally agree on Big Love. It is fascinating to think that people really do live like that. Weird too.
Way to go on WW!

Posted by: Hillary at September 28, 2007 9:24 AM

I don't watch Big Love (no HBO), but I share the sick fascination with disturbing phenomena like the world that Warren Jeffs created. It's just so far outside of my own experience it's hard to comprehend.

New laptop -- fun!

Posted by: Rachel at September 28, 2007 10:28 AM

For all you who might be wondering--fry sauce is a Utah condiment made from ketchup and mayonnaise. Or barbecue sauce and mayonnaise (even better). It's pretty yummy. During the Olympics the fry sauce pin was a hot collectible (along with green jello). I think fry sauce originated at local fast food establishment Arctic Circle (also in Newport, Oregon--?) but it's available everywhere (in Utah) now. Except McDonald's, though they did test market it for awhile.

Hmmm, Carole---did you clarify for Judy your concerns about the dyeing class? Awkward, much?

Posted by: Alarming Female at September 28, 2007 10:37 PM

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