Remembrance Day Rant

Before I toddle off to a ceremony downtown at the cenotaph this morning, I would like to confess that I didn't get a poppy this year. Usually, I get two or three because you lose them right. And then I hit on the practise of using a small pin with a back to keep them on and that works very well. But this year I couldn't even find a poppy tray to get a poppy. I started looking on Nov 2 when the TV newscasters started sporting theirs on the CBC evening news. (This, in my opinion, is about the only useful thing the local evening news in St John's is good for because that program is usually an embarrassing hour of amateur night and technical screw ups, but that is another rant.) Usually poppies are everywhere, and it is easy to find them, but either I'm not going to the right places or there is a distinct lack of poppy trays out there this year.
Now the first option could be the case. In the last two weeks, I have been to the studio, three grocery stores and a drug store postal outlet so it is entirely possible that my lack of consumerism is to blame for my poppylessness. What can I say? I haven't trolled the mall since 1991, and usually it is Study boy that goes to the convenience store on the corner. But until this year I haven't found that to be a problem in my annual November poppy quest.
My question is this: Has anyone else noticed a lack of poppiness in the world this year? I remember that a few years ago there was a great outrage because veterans were being asked not to sell poppies in certain places. Is this a fall out from that policy?
As a result, off I go to the ceremony, feeling naked.

Back to the Studio

There comes a time every fall when gardeners just want to say "Enough already!" and stop the tedious chores associated with putting the nursery to bed for winter.
That time came about a month ago for me, when work consisted weeding, counting, grading and moving 100's of plants into cold frames. Last week it was down to washing pots, so there were no regrets when I got my lay off notice.
And for my efforts mother nature decided a reprieve from cold weather was in order and this week it is back to September like temperatures (for now). We still have pansies, snaps and a rose blooming in the garden. This bird was the only one the dog didn't try to eat.
I'm using the warm weather as an opportunity to walk to the studio for exercise so I can continue to wear my skinny jeans. It's not just a life of leisure for me yet though, the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council has a Christmas Craft Fair each November and so my studio treks have as much to do with volunteering for that event as it does about getting muddy. If you are in NL check out the Fair webpage to see what it is all about.
The benefit of the craft fair in November to all of us non-producing amateur potters is that the kilns are running back to back everyday for all the exhibitors to get their wares ready for the fair. This means our stuff is pushed through faster than usual and the long wait to see the final result is much shorter. Instant gratification pottery.
The Studyboy is still slogging away at the exams. He begins writing the second one on Monday. There are now permanent bags under his eyes, so much so that I'm considering changing his name to Bagboy. If the last exam was anything to go by, he will be completely wiped out by the following week. I'm doing my best to keep the fridge full of food and the tea hot.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Write

This is a marathon week for the Studyboy. He is writing the first of his 3 comprehensive exams this week. He started Monday morning and has a week to write a 40 page open book paper explaining everything he knows about methods of research and explain how to apply them to his area of study. He's been in training for this marathon for about six months. He started with daily doses of heavy reading and progressed into short writing spurts to build both stamina and speed.
So far he is weathering the stress well. He just keeps thinking of it in terms of a theatre production week; the bit just before opening night when you exist on coffee, beer and smokes. (Except it's more like chamomile tea, rye whiskey and smokes. Oh how we age...)
I was in training too. As the wifely equivalent of those people that shove cups of water at the runners from the sidelines, my job was to organise fast and easy food service so he can just keep pounding the keyboard 11 hours a day. For three weeks I've been venturing into the frozen food section of the grocery store and stocking up on microwavable lunches. This was an education in itself. I finally got to see what all those TV ads were about. Wow, who knew food-like items came in a box?
As for suppertime: If you can make it in the slow cooker before you go to work I've eaten it recently. Partly because the oven is on the blink and neither of us have time to call the landlord. Is this what it is like to have children?
On Monday he passes in the first paper and has 2 weeks to recover before starting the second marathon paper. By then my job at the nursery will be finished (it snowed again today) and I will be able to cook meals that have a longer prep time than 20 minutes. It's a good thing too because I'm running out of ideas. Tonight I'm making fish cakes for tomorrow.
For Christmas, I want a framed piece of paper that says MRS.Ph.D.A.B.D. In Latin.

On the One Hand....

Sometimes you just can't win. Take today for example. Last week I toasted my left wrist pulling weeds. That happens sometimes. I get an RSI whenever I pinch and twist or gripe a handle too tightly. It's an old sports injury. So today I was giving it a rest by pulling weeds with my right hand. That's when I grabbed a stinging nettle that managed to find the gap between my gloves and my sleeve.
Left wrist is throbbing. Right wrist is stinging.
It's like the 3 laws of thermodynamics:
Can't win, can break even, can't get out of the game.

Weather Bingo

Today the weather was lovely, except the frost on the car this morning. Yesterday however, we played Weather Bingo at work. During the day we saw:
rain,
rain and hail together,
rain and hail and sun together,
sun,
hail alone
and snow.
Real snow. Not flurries but ten minutes of big fluffy flakes that blotted out visibility 200 feet away.

I was 'set' three ways. I needed a plague of locusts for the horizontal line, a tornado for the vertical line or a flash flood for the four corners. Alas, 5 o'clock came before any of those events occurred.

Heard on the Street

The weather continues fine here. Dry at least and above zero so that's the NL definition of fine. It means that the windows are still open and thus, this gem was overheard on the street outside the Study Lair today:

"Where ya to?"
"We're off to buy beer, because a house without beer is like a bar without beer."

Sure. I guess. If your house is like a bar. Er....

A Swedish Kitchen Party

Everybody knows that here in the East we like our Kitchen Parties. Face it. Traditionally the largest, warmest, most comfortable room in the house is the perfect location for a party. Plus, that's where the beer is, and by the time you walk back to the living room you need another beer so this is why the party always migrates even if it doesn't start out there.
On Friday, Studyboy emerged from the lair bleary-eyed from too much reading and we set out for a Swedish Kitchen party at our friends, Malin and Pablo's house. What made this different from the average kitchen party first became clear when Studyboy morphed into Carpenter Man and instead of taking a case of beer and a guitar, he grabbed the screw gun and a set of hex keys.
Malin, being Swedish ordered her new kitchen from IKEA, and on Friday night, several people were invited to assemble all the bits in all the boxes. In fact there were four couples. And here is what I learned from that experience:
Somehow, I initially ended up in the wrong room, and found myself in a speed competition with two men I had only just met. Just for the record, it only took me 2 minutes longer to assemble my cabinet alone than it took two of them, together. (with much discussion)
Next, I realised that Carpenter Man and I were the only couple to attempt an assembly together. Ever. All night. All other teams were strictly gender based. And segregated into separate rooms. I think this says something significant about Men, Women, and Couples. Don't you?
Also, while the men were racing each other, and trying hard not to follow the directions, or use all the bits, the women worked as teams and gave helpful solutions to each other. In fact, after a couple cabinets we broke tasks down into our strengths so we were much more efficient and finished sooner. Then we retired to the living room to drink while the men were still working.
Finally, I learned that if you don't live with a carpenter, IKEA is an excellent way to get a new kitchen. Even with the men 'helping' we got all the cabinets assembled and hung in three hours. But if you do live with a carpenter, then just buy the melamine and DIY, because hex keys are not fun.
I think next weekend is the doors and drawers party.