Bubbles LIVES!!!

So, I mentioned a sourdough starter last week or maybe it was earlier this week, anyway, I made something with the starter.  It is too soon to make bread with the starter, the mixture has to mature.  I guess, I could make bread as the starter is a week old already but last time we waited several weeks before the bread happened.  Regardless, I made pizza crust.  We haven't tried it yet but it looked and rose just like pizza crust should after I baked it.  Why pizza crust?  Well, every time the starter gets fed, half of the starter is supposed to be chucked.  The idea is that the starter doubles between each feeding and it doesn't take very long to have way too much starter!  But rather than chuck it, it is useable flour and water after all, there are other bread products that can be made - like pizza!  I also came across a recipe for english muffins, I don't know how brave I am for that one but I'll see how it goes.  Some photos: 

Other Fun Stuff

The Girl and I headed out into the world last night.  We went over to campus in the early evening because we wanted to see the Pacific 10 Women's Gymnastic tournament or final, I don't remember which one, it was a big game..  Coolness!!!!   But, we realized we were missing it hours after it started, SAD.  By the time we made it to campus, drove about to try and find the right building and parked, the event was practically over.  As we were walking it started to rain, then it started to rain heavier.  We opted instead to go to Men's Water-polo (That was The Girl's idea . . . water-polo???).  Alas, we got to the water-polo, the rain was coming down heavier (outside venue) and the that event too, was wrapping up.  A passerby told us that the next even was Men's Volleyball at a nearby building.   Off we went!  We ended up seeing Stanford play California Baptist (really, I am not making that up).  I had never been to a volleyball game that didn't involve folks playing just to go to the pub later with the team, as you can imagine the level of skill far exceeded what I was used to seeing.   Stanford got beat swiftly but they played well.   Fun was had by all and it didn't take us very long to find our car, which was a bonus.  But really, it was a pretty enjoyable adventure.  We hadn't been to that part of campus before so it was nice to see.

Ma'am and Wonderful Smelly Things

OK, so it seems like an odd subject line, here's the story:

I was on campus yesterday getting a tire on the bicycle fixed and a college student handed me a flyer and called me "Ma'am."  Well, that took the wind out of my sails, folks.  So sad.  So then it hit me, I am getting old.  I am more likely perceived as someone's Mom or a teacher on the campus than a fellow student.  Oh well, these are the breaks I guess I'll be picking up some skin firming moisturizer and scheduling some botox this afternoon. (OK - that is a total lie - I'll be doing neither)

Wonderful Smelly Things:  Two fold, also Pretty Things!!!

So, the weather has gotten a little drier and I have been riding the motorcycle and bicycle more often.  I took the motorcycle to knitting circle this week, which means I drove north on 280 heading towards San Francisco.  Remember, there are mountain ranges on nearly all sides of us, barring the side with all the water.  So, I am riding up the highway and off to my right is a mountain range with a ridiculously dense layer of fog rolling into it's upper portion.  The sun was setting so the sun was just above the clouds/fog; the view reminded me of being in an airplane above the clouds watching the sun set.  It was really quite beautiful.  Further up the road, as I approached my destination, not far from San Fran,  the sky went from blue and white to dark and grey and the temperature dropped probably by 5 or 10 degrees.  You can tell a lot when you ride in elements :-)  Anyway, it is surely and most definitely colder and foggier as one travels towards San Fran.  Riding home that evening I notices something totally different.  Even though I was on the highway, it smelled wonderful.  Each town that I passed had a different scent, it was AWESOME.  Some smelled like flowers, some like woods, of course there was eucalyptus, some had scents I can't even describe but they were lovely.  LOVELY.

The next day I rode the motorcycle to school.  I cross a bridge to get to the other side of the bay and on the other side of the bridge, you guessed it, are more mountains.  Well, there is a series of hills, hills big enough to be mountains to me, awfully close to the bridge.  Most days it is just a pretty green series of hills on this day, the entire hillside was full of sheep.  Actual sheep.  Sheep milling around, eating, hanging out, chatting it up.  Of course my first thought was -- imagine the cool yarn -- but my second thought was OMIGOD hundreds of sheep 10 miles from the house.  It wasn't quite as funny as seeing the cows standing on what seemed like a very high incline on the mountains by school, but it was pretty awesome.

Bubbles is Back

So, many of you may know that I created a Sourdough starter last January.  She lived and thrived for many, many months; some of you may have even gotten some sourdough bread.  In the move the starter was lost, by the time she made it back to us she was long dead.  I tried to get some of the original starter by contacting folks who had gotten a bit of her to work their own magic, alas, each person killed Bubbles (Bubbles Saccharomyces was the starter's name - I was taking Microbiology at the time and learned the scientific name for yeast, Saccharomyces is the genus name for yeast and thought it would be a riot to include it in the name of our starter).   I again started a starter, the first time I started her and promptly ignored her; turns out that yeast does grow fungus.  So is that yeast on yeast or is fungus different from yeast???  I don't recall, Microbiology was a whole year ago . . . .    Anyway, the second time is the charm.  It only took a few days and the sourdough starter is showing signs of life.  All we have to do is feed her twice a day for a month  --- you see the humor there, right?  I do think it is a little funny that we will have sourdough starter so close to San Francisco.  If you are interested, here is the link where I got the info on the sourdough starter back in January '08  http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.html  

Other snippets:  Well, there aren't too many other snippets.  The Girl is mad crazy busy at work. She will be traveling about in the next few months, one trip to Berlin and then a couple of trips to the East (Boston and the D.C. area).  I am in school; I have mid-terms this week so that is a little nerve-wracking.  We haven't gone any adventures since my last entry but we are considering another night swim this week. The weather is starting to change just ever so slightly.  There is more sun than rain these days. The rain still happens, and often a day will start cloudy, if it stays cloudy well, you just don't know if the rain will come or not.  I started seedlings for plants and herbs.  The seedlings I started in the house are sprouting just fine but the ones I left on the balcony never made it.  I guess it was still too cold for them.  I'll try again at the end of the month.

We are bicycling as much as ever.  Last week, for the first time I strapped groceries to the rack on the back of my bike.  I have two baskets but I got a bag of sugar and a bag of flour and that seemed sort of too heavy for the basket that already had milk and stuff in it.  So I strapped it to the rack on the bike, I felt like a real tree-hugger that day.  

Well, happy day!!!

Some Photos

Here are some shots of Spring from the neighborhood.

I haven't put out any food for hummingbirds though I have seen the hummingbirds about.  I think they are here year round.  I haven't seen one close enough to tell if they are the ruby red throated breed that we got in the East.   The birds continue to enjoy the bird feeder, the cats continue to enjoy the birds :-) 

Reality Break

So, I can't really say the seasons are changing in Northern California but I can say that Spring has Sprung. I posted some photos on Facebook and when I post from my home computer I'll be sure to add some Spring photos here, too. We are ankle deep in rainy season. It has been mostly raining for many days. Yesterday ~ GASP ~ I had to wear real socks and shoes, boots even, because the rain was so persistent. It turns out that even with all the rain California is not where it should be in water reserves, there has been a drought for many previous years. Regardless of water requirments met or unmet, the rain continues. The only down side of the rain is that it prevents me from using the motorcycle. No reason to add "wet road" to the list of riding conditions.

I am in school and my classes, like in Delaware, are time consuming but not rocket science (all actual rocket scientist please bite there toungue). I have met a couple of folks in my classes that could turn out to be potential friends, that is good, The Girl and I really haven't met any friends yet so every little bit helps. The nursing program. Well, that is really a bit of a downer. I thought I would be able to apply in April for the nursing program at Ohlone at the very least. Turns out that because I am taking a required math course, I am unable to apply. I had already taken a math course in DE but it doesn't seem to meet the requirements here. So, I won't be applying to any nursing program until at least the fall semester. When I first found out I was pretty sad. But, in the bigger scheme of things it works out just fine. By the time I am applying I will have California residency status and the whole thing will be much cheaper. That's a good thing.

The Girl has been very busy with work these last few weeks. There are several papers and projects happening. The Girl will be traveling all about in late May and April. We did venture into San Francisco a few weekends ago. And this past weekend we went to a movie on campus. The movie was Milk, about Harvey Milk. It was an interesting movie but as I was watching I couldn't help but notice two things. One, the movie could easily be happening today. Two, while some things have changed, some things have stayed the same. It was more depressing than inspiring. But it was interesting to see San Francisco in the film.

As you know I am part of a knitting circle. Well, some of the women in the knitting circle have entire blogs dedicated to just their knitting. I don't have that kind of time or dedication but there is no reason I can't at least post photos of finished projects. I have one project that I photographed only with my phone (I guess I should also start taking better photographs of my work) that I can post now. Here it is, I finished this in March and it now lives with a certain someone we know who is in New Orleans. Somewhat related, this past Sunday was a knitting convention called Stitches (yes they have such things). I have always wanted to go, the convention tours and in the East is always up in King of Prussia, but never got around to it. So, I move to California and I finally get to go to the yarn convention. It was very lovely. There was so much yarn and accouterments to choose from. I was very strong. I purchased a pattern for a hat; I don't normally purchase patterns because there are so many available for free that it seems sill to my to pay for one but this is a really nice pattern and the artist was working the booth so I feel good about it. And I picked up two balls of wool/cotton blend for my first pair of socks ever. Not sure when that will start but it's in the line-up. I am working on a scarf now that will live in Philadelphia and then I have a fashion scarf that will head to Delaware. After that, who knows what's next.

I also have some pictures of 70% on his walks. He hasn't gotten to go out as much as he might like because of all the rain. I honestly don't think he would mind the rain, he would just sit on the dry door mat and watch the rain; naturally I would be pushed out to stand in the actual rain away from the protection of the awning over the door mat. Perhaps I'll be a little more gracious and give it a go. We've put out a bird feeder on the balcony, which is quite popular with the local flying population. The kitties enjoy watching from the window. As a result of the bird feeder there is often a gaggle of birds on the mulch at the side of the house when 70% and I go for our walks. While he likes to watch the birdies from the window, it would seem that he does not enjoy being in such close proximity to the creatures out in the world.