Up in our neck of the woods, spring came slowly and haltingly this year. It's always slower than everywhere else in the country, it seems, but this year was the coldest, wettest I remember. Summer finally showed up about July...

Those of you bored by gardening posts or looking for some anti-marijuana polemic can stop reading now. See you tomorrow. I continue the good fight against the invader on the homefront. The problem is that, when small and not blooming,...

A momentous day today: Henry mowed the lawn. Not all of it, and not quite in the pattern I would choose, but hey, it's a great start. I'm beginning to see the possible benefits of this whole kid thing. This...

First of all, it's pronounced hee'-ca-ma. Not hick-a-ma, like hiccup. Everyone corrects me but I'm right about this one. Irritating. It's Spanish, people! Anyway, it's a big root. I first encountered jicama when we lived in Mexico City during my...

Bob better watch his back...

caps, originally uploaded by Meltrier. Here it comes again: the most conflicting baseball series of the year. This year, it's pretty clear cut: the Bosox must win to keep their (slim) chances alive. So, sorry, Seattle! Let's not be spoilers!...

The Baltimore Orioles, the absolute worst team in baseball, really stink. They have a .315 record, which means they've lost so many more games than they've won this year. 29 games won, 63 games lost. Pathetic. They played the Tampa...

Everyone has to pull their own weight around here. Henry does a list of daily chores, Flash barks at random possible intruders, the fish entertains with flips and splashes, Muffin preens and cuddles. And Bob -- Bob brings home the...

For further proof that I'm not always a sloth, Henry and Dana and I loaded up the canoe yesterday at 5 pm and headed to Sparks Lake for an evening picnic. It was a perfect little excursion. Henry showed off...

A quality I wish I had more of is energy. I never feel energetic. I would even categorize myself as leaning to lethargy. Yesterday I stayed in bed for half the day with a cold, and began to panic that...

AP photo Here's a rundown on the ailing Red Sox, who, even with some of their best players out, are tied for the fifth best record in baseball right now. RED SOX INJURY STATUS Player Injury Unofficial return date Jacoby...

It's baaaack! The evil weed has been spreading secretly through the garden beds on the 16th Street side of the homestead. I spent a lovely July evening digging out its minions, which are popping up faster than I can pull...

How my life does not resemble a Bud Light Lime commercial: I've never sat on a boyfriend's shoulders and played chicken with another girl I've never danced on a beach in a bikini (and I lived at the beach for...

We've got a thing for s'mores around here. For those of you who never went to scout camp or just arrived on this planet, a s'more is a graham cracker sandwich made with a melting marshmallow and piece of Hershey's...

One of my go-to meals is Caesar Salad. (BTW, it's one of my pet irritations to see Caesar spelled wrong on menus. So annoying.) I've made CS since I was in college and it's always a hit. It's a 10-minute...

In case you missed it, this comment came in from my friend Sami (regarding Wed. post): "This kinda makes me sad. You're a mom! A knitter! An employed person! You have daily dramas! I like to think of you growing...

I read that book once, in the original French. It meant nothing to me in a foreign language. I got nothing these days. Nothing going on, nothing on my mind, nothing to post about. Everything that has happened to me...

2010 Final Man All-Star MLB.com Ballot Kevin Youkilis is my Final Vote. (One of 5 players up for the last spot on the 2010 American League All-Star team.) You can vote until Thursday, July 8 @ 4 p.m. ET. Vote...

Well, hello there, y'all (spoken very slowly). Sorry I've been out of touch - I've been on vacation at my parents' in North Carolina and the outside world has kind of faded away. Maybe it's the humidity, maybe it's the...

Bug courtesy of my big bro Steve. Photo mine. One thing I like about the East: fireflies. We always called them lightning bugs. Nothing brings back the summers of my childhood like a lawn at late dusk, sprinkled with lightning...

Well, summer has finally arrived here -- it's been two nights since we've had to turn the heat on. The local visitor bureau has determined that cyclists are the niche of choice for its marketing efforts and the streets are...

To follow up on yesterday's post, a more comment- (and thought-) provoking question: When do you feel most creative?

- Talking Heads, Artists Only, 1977 What does it mean to be creative? And can we answer it in this blog post? Several people have called me creative lately, referring to a knitting project, cooking experiment or blog writing. But...

"...while at the same time..." Most sweater patterns involve a lot of shaping of each piece to achieve the most flattering fit (as most of us are not square cubes, hopefully). To shape a piece, you have to get rid...

TGIF It's been a rough week.

A blog is the ultimate opportunity to brag, right? Well, we just had a casual Thursday meal that may not be replicated in the finest spots in LA/NY. A salade composee of: Rare london broil fresh salad greens sauteed morels...

Seriously, I wasn't crying. It was allergies. Henry graduated from elementary school today. Three different fifth grades lined up and celebrated the occasion with an anthem, valedictorians, diplomas, and of course the requisite music video. I got there in time...

Our school year was just cut by two days as of immediately, and it just hit me that I need to produce year-end gifts for Henry's wonderful teachers by Tuesday a.m. The great Mr. G. will probably get a giftcard...

Morels are a type of wild mushroom that grow in the Northwest in the spring. Their flavor is deep and mysterious and substantial, and they look really cool too, like little alien coneheads. There's an underground culture of mushroom pickers...

To paraphrase an old boating saying: "The two best moments of a knitting project are when you cast on and when you cast off." The steps to planning the next major sweater undertaking: Which comes first, the pattern or the...