Fine Times in Philly

I am on a quick turnaround at home between the ACC Annual Meeting and heading to Texas for our quarterly Legal Department All-Hands.  I had fun leading walks in the mornings, and meeting people, and seeing friends, and learning stuff.

Because I am in leadership roles I am invited to the Leadership Development Institute, where we had a team-building exercise to create the tallest possible structure using spaghetti, some masking tape, a piece of string, and a marshmallow.  The structures were measured from the surface to the marshmallow which had to be at the top.

My team had two engineers out of the four of us, and we won:

Design based upon oil derricks and the John Hancock
building in Chicago - and we didn't use the string!

I also, to my surprise, won this:

I did take time on Saturday, after arriving, to visit The Fabric Workshop and Museum and the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, which in addition to having some interesting exhibits was participating in the Philadelphia Open Studios Tour (POTS) so I met a number of artists and saw their ongoing works.  I picked up supper at the Reading Terminal Market and ate in my hotel room.

Sweet bologna on rye with mustard, and a pickle.

And I knit a bunch of hats:

Technically the pink one at the top was mostly finished when
I left for the conference, but the other five were knit there.
One of the blue ones was finished after I returned home.

Back. With yarn and knitting.

Just a quick report - I did knitting, and am into the second skein, second half, of the Berie Shawl:

Not much done on the Albuquerque Shawl, but attention must be paid so it's not good for knitting while sightseeing or reading or during intermissions:

Yarn and fabrics acquired, and some fiber for a swap at the annual meeting for one of my local fiber guilds:

LOTS of photos taken, and I may get around to summarizing the trip.  I had fun, not enough sitting-around time as one sometimes gets on vacations, did some hiking, saw a number of museums plus some places I wanted to see and will visit again, and ate a lot of good food.

Mustard Museum Memory

In 2015-2016 I lived in Middleton, Wisconsin for a time.  I enjoyed being there but as often happens in my life, work had other ideas.  One of the things I enjoyed, too briefly, was the National Mustard Museum.

I still have this - he is a much better option than most candidates!

As a mustard lover, I eagerly volunteered to be one of their tasters for the annual championships, held on on this date in 2016.  They asked what we preferred, and because I tolerate hot and spicy well, those were some of the options provided to me:

The samples of HOT PEPPER mustards came with
cups of yoghurt to cool the palate.

Most of the mustards came with water and pretzels to cleanse the palate, except for the HOT pepper ones shown above, and two others:  the dressings arrived with celery sticks and the deli mustard came with small pieces of rye bread and corned beef.  I did not get to sample those, but I did get one bite of leftover rye bread and corned beef.

They also had samples of foods made with mustard, and recipe cards to take home:

Because I am allergic to chocolate I didn't try the brownies, although others said they were surprisingly good.  (Who knew there is chocolate mustard?)  I definitely love the jalapeño deviled eggs.  [As a side note, a friend posted a photo of deviled eggs with the caption: "It's called 'deviled eggs' because the voices whisper & make you eat 25 of them."]

I visited the rest of the museum, and its shop, although it was too crowded for many good pictures.  I ended up with just a bad one:

There are several cabinets displaying mustards from all over
the world - Japan, Sweden, South Africa, New Zealand, etc.

The museum included a number of items of punny decoration:

The true harbinger of spring.

As many of us say, it's not what some silly rodent decides, spring really starts with the call of "Pitchers and catchers report!"  That was last week and this weekend I'll be enjoying three games of the Cactus League, via a professional group's trip:

It is a tradition for the President of the Illinois State Bar Association to select a trip.  In the past they have been cruises and such, often to the person's family's origin country or area.  I haven't gone because they were not interesting to me.

Naturally, this one is.

I borrowed my mother's White Sox gear, and have my own for the Cubs.  I'll get a new T-shirt there, of course.  We see the above game on Friday, a White Sox game on Saturday, and a Cubs game on Sunday.  A perfect weekend!

I hope to get to the Phoenix Art Museum to see two exhibits.  Since all our games are at 1:05pm (according to the posted schedule) that doesn't give much time, but both are small:  Guarding the Art and the Fireflies Infinity Mirrors Room.  If one of the games is later, I may try to get to Taliesin West, which I toured many years ago and would like to see again.

Maybe I'll switch to a later plane home.  😊

The third and final ten of 2023.

Day 21: Thankful that not only do I have enough food, but that I have enough to share, whether a cake for an event tonight or donating to the local food pantry so others can have Thanksgiving meals.

Day 22: Thankful that I had my grandmother for as many years as I did. My Facebook memories popped up a few photos I'd posted on a post-turkey walk five years ago, and I realized it was the last holiday we all had together (the following year my father was ill - not horribly, but too much to travel, and my mother stayed home with him, then pandemic), and I started missing her terribly.

One of my favourite photos of the two of us,
when we visited the Morikami Gardens.

Day 23: Same as every year, thankful for this guy:

My baby brother, as a toddler.
He's older now and has much less hair.

Day 24: Thankful that I didn't need to go out into the Black Friday crowds, and that I could shop online for the things that others (Toys for Tots, Durham Rescue Mission Angel Tree) need. And my brother loved that this year his birthday gift was that 42 people had Thanksgiving supper plus extras at the Durham Rescue Mission last night.

Day 25: Thankful for all the people who run a small business. I know how hard it can be, and try to shop at as many of them as I can. Just a few of my favourites:

• Kettlepot Soap
• Hartford Prints
• BiCi Co. (technically a community non-profit, but great for bike stuff)
• Hein Farm (in addition to produce and eggs they sell gift items, most produced locally)
• Clatter Ridge Farm (not just for produce and meat - they sell yarn and woolen goods, cards, photos, and a great calendar)
• The Produce Box
• Buttercream Duo
• Misericordia's Hearts & Flour Bakery

And more independent hand-dyers (also called 'indie dyers') and local yarn (and other craft supplies) shops than I can list!

Day 26: How can I not be thankful for museums on Museum Store Sunday? I've been going to museums since I was carried in my mother's arms (and probably when I was carried in her tummy), and they are one of the places I seek out wherever I travel. I've lived as close as across the street and definitely took advantage of that on some lonely and weather-dismal weekends when I first lived in that town. I've met interesting people at museums and made a number of friends from those contacts. Plus ALL THE STUFF I'VE LEARNED!!!!!

As a note:  Museums are not just stuff in buildings.  Some are open-air spaces that teach about how people lived during a time, or in an area.  Some are just a room in a larger building.  Keep your eyes open and look for all kinds, as sometimes the less-standard-looking ones are most interesting.

Day 27: Thankful for technology. Not just because it is Cyber Monday, but all the technologies that help people I know (pacemakers, cochlear implants, motorized wheelchairs), medical technology for surgeries and treatments of all kinds, technology for transportation and communication, and so many more things that we take for granted. Every day there's something new and different - I applaud the breakthroughs and encourage everybody to use technology for good.

Day 28: Thankful for my family, and since it's Giving Tuesday the lesson about giving to others. From a young age I was taught that I should share what I have and help people who need helping. It has stuck with me, and is why I donate items to thrift stores, or Habitat for Humanity and shelters and other places that can use things. I knit and crochet items to donate, and I contribute to food pantries and community gardens. Even when I didn't have money, I could give time by helping to make sandwiches, build a house, or sit with somebody in hospital. Giving doesn't always mean money.

Day 29: Thankful for all the first responders: Police, EMTs, Firefighters, and others who keep us safe and help when needed. I know that this can be controversial, given the last few years. I have friends who are in these roles, and others such as firejumpers, and I know what they commit to the job and the community. Not all people who wear a uniform or a badge are bad people, but of course those are the ones who get the most publicity. Two of my close friends lost their fathers in the line of duty, and in Chicago I supported a group that fundraised to provide for police officers who were disabled from injuries received on the job, and their families, and the families of officers who died on the job. More than once I've needed help from somebody in one of these roles, and I am glad that I can call upon them when I do.

Day 30:  Last, but never least, I am thankful for my FRIENDS. I don't have hundreds on Facebook, and except for a small percentage (usually friend-of-friend with whom I have strong common interests) they are all people I've met and often with whom I have spent time in the past. I also have friends who aren't part of my Facebook circle; we do it the old-fashioned way! Some people I call "friend" I have not seen in person in many years, but I know if I turn up on their doorstep, I'll be invited in and we'll catch up for hours. If they turn up on mine, I'll probably invite them in for tea and cookies. I've gone out of my way for some, and am always surprised and touched when they do the same for me.

So the month ends - different every year. It's an effort to remember to post on Facebook every day, and sometimes to find something new to say, but it's a good reminder every year of all the things for which I can be thankful.

I, Spy

Work had a virtual Hallowe'en party hosted by the security team, so I dressed as Defender Of The Cyber-Systems, complete with broom to clean up after evicting the Evil Hackers and Infiltraitors:

I forgot to upload the photo to the competition
page, oh, well, but I got kudos in the 'party'!

I took a vacation (the first proper one since 2019, thanks to the pandemic and my overwrought work ethic, and using any PTO days to visit family and move and wrap up a couple estates) last week, five days in Washington, D.C., on a Spies & Espionage programme.  It was fun.

Of course we did the expected National Cryptologic Museum and International Spy Museum, the former small and the latter so large I ended up skipping a few things and not doing "the assignment" because it was also the only day we had free time and I wanted to get to Ford's Theater to see it since it was renovated (yes, a long time ago) and the Petersen House.  That evening, another woman on the tour and I went to Arena Stage to see "POTUS" which was rather enjoyable.  Lots of crazy twists.

   

Photo op at "POTUS" - trying to look serious.

Aside from the field trips (also to Lafayette Square, to learn about espionage that happened around it, and elsewhere in the city) we had lectures from current and former employees of three-letter organizations.  We saw most of the major war memorials and got to hear a doughboy play Taps at the WWI memorial, as happens every evening:

    

On Wednesday I got there early enough to participate in a couple of meetings of my own, and then spent about 90 minutes going through part of the National Gallery of Art, which was walking distance from our hotel.  I took a LOT of photos, am sharing just a few:

On Sunday, I went up to Maryland to visit a friend who lives there, somebody I met through an online knitting/crochet/whatever group to which we both belong.  Well, I founded it, and she's helped on and off over time.  Home this morning.

Because there was lots of sitting time, I finished some knitted and crocheted things.  This week I need to organize what I plan to sell next Sunday at the local Arts & Crafts Collective sale.  I don't have great hopes of selling things, but I guess it will be a learning experience.

Thankfuls, Part 4

Wrapping up this month:

27:  Museums! I cannot remember how old I was the first time I went*, but it was the days before children's museums, so I went to the regular ones on Best Behaviour and was introduced to science and art and history of all kinds. I am not shopping for #MuseumStoreSunday as I don't need things and don't know people who need anything this year (we already have all the "Museum Nerd" swag) but you should as they have really cool items.

* My mother told me that I was two years old: "You were two and I prepared you for a visit to the Art Institute by showing you pictures of some of what we'd see. We got to the top of the stairs and you looked at the painting in front of you and said in your two year old voice 'Oh, El Greco.' The several nuns standing there just about fainted."

The Assumption of the Virgin (1577–1579)

28:  Music!  Do I really need to explain it?  My first concert was also when I was two years old, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in residence at the Ravinia Festival.

29:  Books, and authors, and libraries.  The wonder of reading**.

30:  The ability to see.  I've never taken it for granted - you don't when you are so myopic that you began testing as legally blind (without corrective lenses) at around age six, plus I have astigmatism, plus cataracts, so I am very aware of vision.    A number of years ago (yes, earlier than many people expect to hear about it, but that's the way of my family, see Day #21, the memory from 2012) I had my cataracts removed, and they were able to correct 12 diopters of my vision, which means I am only about 2.50-2.75 diopters of correction which translates to around 20/225 vision.  I cannot tell you what it would have been before, as most of the conversion charts stop around -6.00 diopters.  I am also very thankful for a skilled doctor who performed the surgeries, and also the people who keep improving the process.  I still find wonder in the power and gift of sight.

** As of today I have finished fifteen books this year, most of which I started this year.  That is three more than the number to which I committed on GoodReads, where I guessed at doing a book a month.  Some months I didn't finish any; other months I finished two.  Given that two of the recent ones were from the "Historical Whodunits" series, and around 500 pages each, I think it's an acceptable accomplishment.

Catching up with Cooking

Like much of the world, I am staying in lockdown.  While I don't have any of the medical markers requiring self-quarantine, I am staying home to avoid dragging the virus around.  I go out of my neighborhood by car about once a week; I get mail at a post office, not at home, so I have to collect it.  This past week I went out on Thursday because I had a discount coupon for Walgreens that expired that day, and it turns out they didn't have anything I wanted, so I'll be back to a Saturday trip next week.

When the weather is good I try to go for a walk outside the neighborhood.  On Friday I put an out-of-office message reading "Following the recommendations of our leadership for self-care, etc., I have gone for a walk.  It's lovely out today and the weather this weekend is supposed to be drek.  I'll respond to email and review things when I return, which will be before sunset."  And indeed the weather this weekend is not conducive to walking:  From sunny and mid-60's(F) on Friday, it's been between freezing and low 40's(F) with waves of sleety rain alternating with heavy rain all weekend.  I was very glad I'd gone walking when I did.  I walked down to the reservoir and back, about three miles, and I saw a lot of cars parked on the north side of the road.  It seems they had decided enough people were there and they closed the reservoir and were turning away even people on foot.

The strangest thing to me about being at home All The Time is not having to constantly pack a suitcase or overnight bag for each week's travel.  It was odd enough before to have a week when I didn't travel, although I enjoyed being home to do local activities.  Now I've put away the suitcases into the closet, and I'm participating in some local activities that have moved online; SWAN DAY shifted to ten nights of online concerts from some of the performers.  It's fun to do even further away things that I might not get to see or hear, such as the Metropolitan Opera's daily stream, or Paris Opera, or touring museums, and going back in time with Playbill's weekly showing of a musical.  I'm hugely excited about some of the shows the National Theatre (of Britain) is going to show.

All of this does mean that my reading has slacked off considerably.  Oh, well.

Since I posted last, there have been several holidays for which I've done cooking.  First up was St. Patrick's Day, and since I don't do corned beef and cabbage, and I had to work with what I have in the house, and work was going NUTS because we had to figure out how to respond to the COVID-19 effects on our customers, I didn't have much time to do anything elaborate.  Of course, I did make soda bread:

Whole wheat flour, oatmeal, baking soda.

Stir in buttermilk, form.  One half had caraway seeds added,
then cut into quarters or "farls", the other dusted with oatmeal.

Finished!  Hot and buttered and YUMMY.

When I finally had time to prepare supper, I was too hungry to bother with pictures.  It was supposed to be a venison casserole, but I made it as a stew because I have ground beef.  So instead of flouring and browning chunks of meat, I browned the ground beef in some bacon fat, added onions (should be browned in the fat, but I'd missed getting fresh ones in the panic stockup people did so had to use dehydrated) and the rest of the ale from the Apicius cooking a few nights before, plus the seasonings: juniper berries, allspice berries, orange rind, ground pepper, cider vinegar, and a bit of stock.  The upside of ground meat is that it cooked fairly quickly this way.  I have a photo taken the next night, when I ate leftovers:

Stew on soda bread with roasted brussels sprouts,
because they look like miniature cabbages.

The last bit of pear and
blackberry pie for dessert.

I had a bit more time on St. Joseph's Day to make "Carpenter's Pasta".  It should be spaghetti or something similar, but I'm not fond of long noodles so used rotini, which I have on hand.

Step 1:  Brown breadcrumbs.
They are supposed to represent
a carpenter's sawdust.

Step 2:  Soften onions and
garlic until they are golden.

Step 3: Add chopped tomatoes,
basil, and oregano.

Pasta cooked, tomato sauce over, breadcrumbs on top.
Steamed asparagus and fresh figs, the latter of
which is also associated with St. Joseph.

It was easy and rather tasty.  I used soda bread crumbs, of course.  When the bread got a bit dry, as it does due to the lack of fat, I toasted slices and put butter or cheese on top.  Still rather yummy.

I've done some cooking since, but nothing very photogenic.  I tried making pumpkin waffles, to use up the pumpkin from the Ides, but my waffle iron is old and not cooperative.  So the batter became pancakes and I added the rest of my fresh blackberries:

As you can see, I was eating "at work".

Last night I made a Tuscan Stew using a packet of herbs I'd gotten some time ago.  The idea is that you follow the recipe using the premeasured amounts in the packet, and then keep the recipe (it's on a punch-out card) so you can remake it later.  I had everything on hand except chicken, so I used some extra-firm tofu that has been waiting in the refrigerator.  I also subbed frozen greens (put in the freezer last summer) for fresh spinach, and swapped half the beans with some potatoes that needed to be cooked and eaten.  Overall, the result is very good.  It does make a LOT of stew, so I have meals until well into the workweek.

On the first Monday of spring, we had a snowstorm:

       

It didn't daunt the crocus: