Jultember still officially sucks...

Jultember has come to an end, and boy am i happy to see it go. 

with a couple days left to go in the month, i was bitten on the ankle (at like two in the morning) by a "false widow" spider. it looked like someone stuffed a golf ball under my skin, and i spent the better part of an hour contemplating if the electric hand saw was strong enough to remove my foot from the rest of my body. boy, was i in serious pain! stupid imposter spider!

then, with mere hours left to go, my (former) favorite cat...

sent my second favorite coffee mug crashing to the floor...

that photo of her has been the background of my laptop for ages. she is seriously adorable... but i am still not happy with her right now. so, while i know that there is actually important negative stuff happening in the world, in my absurd, pointless little corner... Jultember still officially sucks!

other than the occasional burst of animal-induced absurdity, life continues to be pretty calm in these parts. i had all of these grand plans of things i intended to do once Summer started. now, we are the end of Jultember—and with it, the end of the Summer—and i still cannot figure out where any of that time went. 

i had a birthday at some point during the Summer, which we celebrated in our usual super-low-key fashion. mostly, it was an excuse to eat something special. this time around, it featured an almost one-and-a-half kilogram (roughly three 'murican pounds) tomahawk steak. you can keep your soft-as-butter fillet. i am all about the rib eye, and this beast is rib eye squared. 

we cooked it sous vide at 49°C/120°F (very rare), then crusted it up on a super-hot grill, by which time it was perfectly medium rare. it may not look like it, but trust me when i say this was a lot of meat for two people to eat. that is a huge serving platter in the first photo, not a plate. the animator was adding bits of the leftovers to bowls of ramen for days. 

and, speaking of the grill... i had to downsize this year's balcony garden project as he decided that we were in desperate need of a bigger barbecue. luckily, i could not muster the enthusiasm to buy many plants this year, so we ended up with a few herbs and some flowers to appease the bees. [we are hanging on to the propane tank from the old grill to appease his man genes' refusal to get rid of things.]  

oh... and we added some new flooring to the balcony... which is barely visible under the tangle of leaves. i seriously love having my own mini jungle out here.  

my culinary mojo is still feeling very meh, but i do occasionally get the urge for something interesting... like the Thai curry mussels that took all of about seven minutes to make. this dish featured the "Thai holy trinity" (galangal, kaffir lime, and lemongrass) combined with curry and coconut milk. there are no words to describe the joy i got from eating this meal.

it has also been a bit of a struggle to keep the crafting mojo going, but i did manage to finish a few things (some of which i will discuss in more detail at a later date, as they require their own posts). and, yes... i will be keeping this mug many miles away from a certain ridiculous cat. 

i (finally) finished up that green sweater from the last post... and the post before that. the pattern is Langeline by Ditte Lerche. it is a free pattern (in English, German, and Danish) on Ravelry and on the Filcolana website. i liked the look of the eyelet section at the top, so i kept it going for the whole thing. this was knit from the top-down, making it perfect for when you have a limited amount of yarn (or if you want to knit until it is all used up to avoid leftovers). 

i usually avoid knitting things the same color as the pattern sample, but i am (still) trying to add some life to my greyscale wardrobe, so i dyed some yarn in the brightest green i could produce. i also spun that yarn... sorta... but we can talk about that some other time. 

as per usual, a few changes were made along the way. most notably, i made the neckline slightly larger (it is wider than it looks in the photo, trust me)...

shortened the sleeves... 

and i used the eyelets allover because it was more interesting to knit than a plain stockinette fabric. did i mention that it is a superfine merino and cashmere blend that is soft and snuggly enough for an allergic-to-all-the-things cupcake like me to wear? yum!

all that green must have gotten to me, because i pulled some more fiber out of my stash, and dyed that green too. i will probably talk more about this yarn when i get i around to using it... eventually.

and for a change, i dyed up some yarns in three very similar shades of turquoise-blue. if you look closely, you will note the different construction of the three yarns, two of which were sorta-spun by me. i have a garment's worth of each one, so that is three more future projects to get around to... eventually. 

the absolute best part of the summer, however, had to be the addition of a new toy to my crafting library. i officially own a knitting machine.

but, wait... it gets worse. 

i actually now own THREE knitting machines. no joking. the animator really knows how to deliver on a birthday gift. they will likely be the subject of my next post... eventually.  

so, now i have even more ways to keep myself occupied in the middle of the night. seriously... would you rather be laying in bed at two in the morning, waiting to be stung by a stupid spider seeking vengeance for his comrade that you slaughtered the night before, or sat on an uncomfortable chair staring at something like this? 

exactly!

Jultember in a single word...

to be perfectly honest... i briefly considered doing a post-a-day during Jultember. however, as i have been genuinely struggling to find the will to get out of bed some days, said effort was doomed to failure before it even started. so, i took the occasional photo of the random nonsense i got up to over the course of a month that began in one season and ended in another.

this year's balcony garden project has been a literal oasis. beyond being lovely to look at, living like we do in an apartment in the middle of the city, it is especially nice to occasionally harvest something just moments before it ends up on the dinner table.

the inclusion of more flowers in this year's garden meant that there were even more colorful creatures stopping by for a visit. i was (pleasantly) shocked to see a ruby-throated hummingbird zipping around one afternoon (the visit was too brief to get a photo). one almost forgets that there is (non-squirrel) wildlife in the city, and we will definitely be planting even more welcoming flowers in next Summer's garden.

i did have to rescue a visiting cicada from potential death-by-adorable-cat. i formed a human shield between the two, until the cicada eventually climbed back through the netting and  flew away... then i spent the rest of the day threatening to climb a tree to strangle a cicada (perhaps it was the same one) whose noisy antics was driving me up a wall.

the animator was most amused.

him: if you hate that noise so much, why didn't you just let the cat kill it?
me: that would be cruel. they're annoying, but they're cute.

i found myself in need of a quick pick-me-up one random afternoon, so i made some candles. this was my first time using wooden wicks. i am hooked!

the light is stronger than with the cotton wicks, but the candle burns so slowly that it feels like it will last forever. i burned this one for close to twelve hours, and the jar was still near-full. i approve.

i have been neglecting my knitting projects, partly because it was too hot to be bothered, but mostly because i just stopped caring. this top was intended to be part of my Summer wardrobe. maybe next year.

that is some of my own hand-dyed yarn. i will talk more about the genius/lunacy involved in getting this effect on a cotton-based yarn if/when i finish the top.

 

i did manage to (finally) complete another pair of socks (more about that some other day) for the animator, which i started back in April. i also finished spinning the charcoal-grey yarn that i talked about in that same post. there is enough of this to make a whole garment, so now i just have to find a pattern that is worthy of this special yarn.

it is hard to maintain consistency across such a large spin, but i am satisfied with the end result. this is begging to be turned into a comfy cardigan.

i added some new yarns to my stash. i got a sweater's quantity of each color. they knit up into such a beautiful fabric. the fiber is a cotton-acrylic blend that will make for some comfy allergy-free sweaters for me.

i usually avoid wearing browns, but this warm gold was created to be worn next to my skin. this just screams AUTUMN!!!

we consumed a ridiculous amount of iced tea earlier in the month. there was a stretch of a couple-few weeks were the temperature in the middle of the city was hovering around 40°C (104°F), with the "feels like" temperature a few degrees above that. it was... brutal.

this was a particularly hot, dry Summer, so it was a great relief when the rain finally came about halfway through the month. which brings me to the point of this pointless thing...

if i had to summarize this past Jultember in a single word, it would be "tomato".

we got a large box of veggies from his parents' garden, including about twenty-five pounds of tomatoes... because his father is that lunatic. i roasted half of them (like i did last Summer), and the rest were turned into many tomato salads. [random aside: that plate with the chip is older than both of us.]

that particular salad was served along with a heaping plate of Greek-style lemon chicken and potatoes (made by the animator). said dish was flavored with fresh oregano and thyme from our little garden. the leftovers were equally amazing the next day.

we sent a photo of the salad to his dad, who was impressed by my neat arrangement of the slices... then he immediately began amassing another box of tomatoes. you know, in case we were in danger of running out of the stuff.

meanwhile, every now and then, one of us would step out onto the balcony, and return with a handful of freshly-harvested tomatoes. there is presently a large container of fresh tomatoes occupying half a shelf in the fridge, along with three containers of garlic-roasted tomatoes, all waiting to be used up. it is at the point where we are putting tomatoes into just about everything we consume.

the veggie haul from his parents' backyard also included several heads of celery. i chopped a few stalks at a time, and stored them in the freezer for the coming soup season.

we transplanted a couple of the smaller celery plants to the balcony garden project...

and i placed the bottom of one of the chopped up heads of celery into a pot of soil, where it promptly started to grow new leaves.

then, without warning, Jultember was through... and with it went Summer.

now we are racing toward the part of the year that i love most of all. i ventured halfway across town this past weekend to get my first taste of this year's harvest of concord grapes. i actually bought three containers of the stuff, but the first one disappeared within minutes of getting them home.

but the best bit came when the animator was checking the weather forecast earlier today.

him: apparently there is a typhoon forming somewhere in Asia that is going to bring an early Fall to Canada.
me: that must be one powerful typhoon.
him: it's the butterfly effect.
me: yeh, but with like every butterfly on the planet flapping extra hard. 
him: the last three words of this article should make you smile. you ready for this?
me: go ahead.
him: "definitely sweater weather."

yep. still smiling.

Jultember: bumblebee turf wars...

the up-side to insomnia is that i get to catch part of the day that i would otherwise sleep right through. i fed the cats and made myself a large cup of coffee then grabbed my camera to spend a bit of time out on the balcony before the daily drone of traffic commenced.

we live a stone's throw away from the local highway, and the main street that leads into the heart of downtown Montreal is right at the top of our block. as a result, the soundscape of most days is dominated by the not-too-distant sound of passing cars.

but it was still that quiet part of the morning, and i fully intended to enjoy it while it lasted. why do i look like i am about to rob a bank, you ask? allergies, i reply.

this meant having to remove said barrier and hold my breath every time i took a sip. hello.

we have arrived at the point in the season where one small phrase fills me with dread most days. high winds!

the middle of Canada is a vast, flat expanse in which you will find the occasional farm or a field full of grazing cows. what you will find the most of, however, is lots and lots and lots of weeds. [it should be noted that while i have never been to the Canadian prairies, i have seen every single episode of Corner Gas at least twice, so i feel fully qualified to make that statement.]

it is ragweed allergy season, and there is not a single mountain or even a tall hill between me and all of that histamine-inducing pollen blowing in from the prairies. and, no... i do not go out into the world looking like that, but it sometimes helps to have a filter between me and the world while waiting for my antihistamines to kick in. good times. i have a proper face mask for said purpose, but i seem to have lost sight of it in the reshuffling of furniture to make room for the plants.

speaking of which...

i am happy to say that the balcony garden project has returned to its intended setting.
 

i mostly stood by and watched while he lugged one ten-gallon container after another back through the sliding glass doors, and i am happy to report that there was only one injury. his toenail will regrow... eventually... i hope.

naturally, i was out there spraying everything with my homemade peppery concoction long before the squirrels got out of bed this morning. Baby Bear was most not pleased with said fact, as she kept shooting me dirty looks after she took a nibble at the ferns.

i just carried on taking sips of coffee in between trying to figure out how repair the (non-functioning) auto-focus feature on my go-to lens. there is a story in there somewhere, which i will save for some other day when i am done being frustrated with myself for that one.

it was then that i noticed that the Little One staring at something with a definite about-to-attack gleam in her eye.

it was a cute, fat bumblebee. here he is crawling into a snapdragon. so cute.

there is one solitary bee that seems to spend most of the sunlit part of the day going back and forth between all the flowering things out there, and i would like to think that it is the same one i see every time.

i can just imagine the adorable bumblebee turf wars as they decide who gets what territory, and i would like to think that he fought hard to claim my tiny garden as his zone. hopefully the other bees did not give him a hard time for not making his quota on the days when the plants were indoors.

oh... and i am calling him George. so cute. 

Jultember: fête du homard...

Montrealers take their food very seriously—they are French, after all—and one of my favorite things to look forward to each year is what is referred to around here as the "fête du homard". yup... they have a festival to celebrate lobsters. you can see why i love this town.

lobster fishing season is limited to a couple-few months here in Quebec, and the entire place seems to go crazy for the stuff. and it is not just the fancy restaurants. during the Summer months, you can find lobster showing up on everything from pizza to poutine (the wholly ungodly combination of fries, gravy, and cheese curds that is Quebec's greatest contribution to the world... or, so they seem to think).

my absolute favorite format is still the humble lobster roll. for the uninitiated, you pick all of the meat out of a freshly-boiled lobster, toss it lightly with whatever is acceptable as a dressing in your region, then stuff it into a super-non-fancy hot-dog-type bun. and once the bun has reached capacity... you add a bit more. i ate a few chunks off the top before i thought to take a photo, but trust me... it was even-more-full.

we are not talking tiny shredded bits of lobster that are overworked into something resembling the tuna fish you had for lunch. these are big, plump chunks of super-fresh awesomeness. seriously... just look at it and drool.

we recently made a deliciously dangerous discovery. our local fishmonger makes a-maz-ing lobster rolls. it almost makes me feel sorry for the tank full of lobsters... almost. the sandwich is served up along with a few leaves of lettuce and a really tasty slaw-type salad that you can eat as a side or add to your lobster roll. i did a bit of both.

what is dangerous about that, you ask? they make them all year round. and just like that, i got a mental image of me pulling on my going-to-the-Arctic gear in mid-Winter and wading through waist-deep snow, just so i could savor that moment of bursting into the fish shop in mid-January and demanding a lobster roll. i just may learn to like Winter after all.

Jultember: jump up and kiss me...

my people are renowned for being colorful in every way—by which i mean my Caribbean people for a change, and not any of the other random people i periodically claim as my own. such as...

• my people... with too many cats.
• my people... with an approaching-morbid fascination with sheep and yarn.
• my people... whose dying wish is to have their friends gather to drink good beer and watch some old-school cartoons, in lieu of the usual boring adult way of marking such moments. seriously... who wants to be remembered for all the depressing stuff??? where was i again?

naturally, this colorful tendency extends to the way we name all sorts of things, a fact which he finds as amusing as i find his (Croatian) people's tendency to stack the oddest selection of letters next to each other when spelling words. seriously... the language is Hrvatski. who spells anything like that??? then there is the delicious Croatian soup/stew called grah... which only ever makes me feel like i should be reaching for my bat'leth. [he will laugh and call me a nerd when he sees that last line.]

however, it must be noted that my people have the Croatian world beat when it comes to wacky names for things. hang around a Caribbean household long enough and you are bound to hear some of the craziest phrases ever uttered under the guise of the English language. for example...

• jumbee umbrella is a generic term for mushrooms... and most of the mushrooms in the Caribbena will probably kill you if consumed.
• jumbee guava is a fruit resembling a guava... and, yes, it too can kill you if consumed.
• jumbee soursop (aka, hog apple) may not kill you... but you will regret the experience all the same.

basically, if anything has the word "jumbee" in the name... run away!

then there are the tales that are told solely to discourage the youth from venturing out after dark.

• a lajabless (lah-jah-bless) is a devil woman who hangs out along empty roadways at night, waiting to beguile men traveling alone to their demise. oh... and she always wears a long dress/skirt to hide the fact that she has one human foot... and one cow foot. exactly!
• a soucouyant (soo-coo-yah) is a vampire-like creature who appears in the form of an old woman by day, but she slips out of her skin at night and becomes a ball of light that goes around sucking people's blood. the only way to defeat her is to find the empty skin (which she hides when she goes vampiring) and to douse the whole thing with salt, which—apparently—makes it impossible for her to get back into it. then she will—supposedly—die when the sun rises.

imagine seeing a firefly after hearing the old folks talk about that last one in the middle of the night... because there is some unwritten rule that such tales must only ever be told at night. ah, good times!

 still, it is not all dark creatures and toxic foods. some of the most colorful phrases are reserved for things you actually can eat.

• hard food is all of the (non-rice) starchy components of a typical Caribbean meal. it includes things like sweet potato, yams, cassava, and green bananas or plantains. furthermore, all of the hard food that is actually grown underground is collectively referred to as ground provision, because... you know... we need to make things even more complicated colorful.
• buljou (bul-jow) is a dish of salted cod fish sauteed with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. add some hard food and a bit of coconut milk during the cooking process, and you will get run-down. the name implies the fact that it is usually simmered until the coconut milk evaporates (or, runs down... according to my colorful people). makes little-to-no sense, but it is delicious!
•  shadow beni is the tastier cousin to the common cilantro. it usually shows up in other cuisines as culantro or Mexican cilantro
• buss-up-shot is a roti that is cooked in the usual manner (on a flat surface)... before being subjected to a battery of physical abuse when it comes off the heat. i tracked down a video demonstrating the sort of thing, should you ever feel the need to take out your frustration on a flatbread. [and, yes... rotis are super-common in the Caribbean islands, as there are a ton of Indian folks to be found there, including my (deceased) paternal grandfather.]

my absolute favorite colorful phrase, however, is reserved for a special little plant. it is called jump up and kiss me (Portulaca grandiflora). it is a hearty succulent that grows close to the ground in lots of hot places, and the colorful name comes from a special trick one can perform with the flowers. according to my mom—who grew up in a time and place where young ladies did not walk around wearing makeup—the girls would crush the bright-colored flowers between their fingers and apply the stain to their lips. seems it was a natural beauty product long before such things became all the rage.

so, there we were some time ago, getting ready to visit the garden center to purchase a few transplants for this year's balcony garden project. he had already talked me into planting more flowers this time around, so i found myself going on about jump up and kiss me... yet again.

it is such a simple, low maintenance plant that produces the most impressive range of brightly-colored flowers. but, more than that, it is one of the fondest memories i have of the small, rocky garden in the backyard of my (maternal) family's place. i wanted so badly to introduce him to that plant whose poetic name always makes me smile.

as we were wandering through the row after row of mini potted vegetables, there it was at the corner of shelf of transplants that were all supposed to be herbs... one lone, solitary pack of mini jump up and kiss me plants. no exaggeration... i dove for the thing like a baseball player going for home.  then we walked through every inch of the garden center, and there was not another one to be found. [the round pot on the right is thyme.]

i planted them in a shallow terracotta container with a healthy dash of sand added to the potting mix, mainly because the soil in that back garden was very sandy, and those plants were quite content to creep across that rocky surface as they soaked up the near-equatorial sunshine.

the plant works like a weather record-keeper of sorts in this climate, as the blossoms tend to bloom in abundance following a few days of intense sunlight. they were spectacular during the heatwave, but it has been cooler over the last few days... and it shows.

still, i love love LOVE the ever-changing display of colors these few plants produce. this is one of my favorites. it is a beautiful blend of a coppery-orange and a rosy-pink.

this little bug likes the bright yellow.

the lightest shades i have seen so far are in these buttery-yellows, but i have a vague recollection of having seen white flowers among my grandmother's garden.

then there are the intense purplish pinks.

i grabbed a few petals and gave it a crush, and... there it is!

i will refrain from giving it a try, because i want to spare you the sudden, overwhelming urge to jump up and kiss me. and, no... this one (probably) will not kill you for a change.