So much for a yarn diet

At the end of last year I contemplated a yarn diet for 2011 and knitting only socks (to free up room in my yarn bin for sweater yarn). Well, that went out the window.

WEBS has yarn in colors I want in stock. And the thing is, they don't always. I ended up buying three skeins of Dream in Color's Everlasting 8-ply sock yarn in Tidewater (a very pretty blue/green/purple as far as I can tell); three skeins of Madelinetosh's Pashima (a DK weight) in Calligraphy (seemingly a light grey); and two skeins of Trekking Hand Art, one in Tobago (I knit a Baktus in this and wished I had another skein for socks in this colorway) and one in Laguna, a pretty blue.

I almost also bought some Rowan Belle by Amy Butler I've been eyeing, but decided to ere on the side of caution and only buy enough for two sweaters. Hopefully three skeins is enough for a sweater, we'll see. After all, we're talking DK- and sock-weight, you need less, right? Maybe the sleeves will be cropped. Anyhow, I need a thin, machine-washable sweater for traveling, hopefully one of these fits the bill. I'll have to find a pattern I like too. Any suggestions?

A half-week in homeschooling

On Monday we went over Chinese New Year. Bub liked it so much he requested a complete unit on Ancient China. Do you know how difficult it is to find age-appropriate material? I mean, just the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty alone, he had to deal with three assassination attempts--the first orchestrated by his mother, her lover and his stepbrothers, and then he had all of them (except his mother) executed. He really liked his dinosaur unit from last fall (where there were math, science and language arts worksheets) but there's no way I'll be able to find Ancient China-themed worksheets like that--I remember trying to find them for Ancient Greece and failing, so this unit will have to be different.

Yesterday before our park play date we ran by the library to borrow the DK book on Ancient China. He read a little yesterday, and I hope to read some to him tomorrow. I'm thinking of focusing more on ancient Chinese accomplishments and achievements and maybe skip over all of the violence and sadness until he's older.

Today we had our home school park date. We've gone the past two weeks and only met one mother and her children each time. This time there were more! One mother had a brood of boys, ages one through seven, which was wonderful for Tol. The two older boys were directing the dramatic play--at one point they were searching for crystals (large rocks in the sand) and at another, they pretended to be injured people and paramedics. Between that they were running up and down with NERF guns and rifles, but they were all so *nice* about it--the boys were rambunctious without being aggressive. And I was so glad to meet the moms and garner information.

Of course, after we got home, Bub had a total meltdown (it must have taken a lot of energy to be so social) so both kids were sent to nap. Tomorrow is Music Together and then another play date with another mother and kids.

Aside from curriculum, one of the things I've been wondering about is exactly how much time to spend "doing school". The general consensus amongst the mothers today, at least, was only one to four hours in a day, because you only have to answer your child(ren)'s questions, not 30+ children's questions. Unless you want to replicate school at home, which I am not interested in doing. Originally I'd signed Bub up for a "preschool" class at the local community college but it's the same time and date as this park date so I plan on dropping it; I believe he would get better, more positive socialization from this mixed-age group of boys.

Tackling the curriculum will be the next challenge, but one of the mothers pointed me to Sky Mountain Charter School. I'm going to be checking it out.

Wine education

So to learn about wine, you're supposed to drink different wines. I tried my SIL's Barefoot Riesling over the holidays and thought it was alright, so I tried it again. It was alright. But then I also saw the Barefoot Moscato, which has "deliciously sweet" on the label, which certainly sounds appealing, so I got that one too.

The Moscato is definitely sweeter than the Riesling (which I thought was typically a sweet wine to begin with). The Riesling has a dry edge that goes really well with Brie--the Moscato is definitely a dessert wine, my Brie tonight was wasted--but whereas the Riesling is 11.5% alcohol by volume, the Moscato is only 9.0%. Which is just as well, because while the Riesling was a screw-top, the Moscato had a cork that I can't put back in.

Caol Ila, you're interesting

Hubby broke open the Caol Ila tonight. It's very light, almost watery (to me, at least), but still very smoky and peaty. It's interesting, for lack of a better word. Apparently you're supposed to be able to mix the Caol Ila with Talisker for your own custom blend. I can totally see the boys doing this in the future.

Catch-up

From left to righ: Jura, Johnny Walker Gold Label, Balvenie Caribbean Cask, Oban 14, and Caol Ila. Hubby informed me that I forgot to include the Glenfiddich. The Balvenie Caribbean is very interesting (it's what we're trying tonight), it was in rum casks and you can taste the spiciness. As you can see, dents have already been made in the short time the Jura and Oban have been here (the Gold Label, Balvenie Caribbean and Caol Ila are today's new acquisitions).

Not quite logical thinking

Last night as I was washing dishes, Bub told me "I don't think the Tooth Fairy is real." So I asked him what he thought happened: "I think when you put your tooth under the pillow, Santa Claus comes and puts the money there instead." So there you go. He thinks the Tooth Fairy is Santa Claus.

Getting back on track

Aside from unpacking, I took Bub to the local home school park play date last week. There was only one other mother by the time we got there but she was friendly and told me that actually, a lot of the group meets before the posted time. So this week I'll definitely try earlier and this way I can bring Itty Bitty. I also went through Bub's home school calendar to do a little planning and putting in reminders, hopefully it helps (I guess we'll see). Yesterday morning I took him to try a piano class. He liked it so he's going to start next week with a slightly older class (5-7 year olds). It's without two little stuffed animals and some gimmicks, but it will move faster and I think that will be good for him. For the class he tried yesterday, they learned about low and high notes. Once the novelty of the actual class wears off, I could see Bub complaining about the pace of the class. I really liked the instructor. She seems to be a positive person and understanding of little kids but was still able to control the class.

Yesterday Hubby cleaned his side of the office, so my side (which is a desk and a cabinet, it's a smaller "side" than his) looks like the mess now. I cleared the bulletin board before we left for vacation though, so at least that's not a mess.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. day so I want to read some text out of one of Bub's books, but I'm not sure how much of it he'll understand. As it is, I'm not sure how much he can understand that the Internet and cordless appliances did not always exist. Tuesday we'll have a play date, Wednesday the park date, Thursday a music class, and around that, fitting in the regular schooling--we have to restart Mandarin, and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten it all!

I've barely had a chance to do any knitting or reading (in fact, I've positioned my knitting so that it's staring me in the face, accusingly) but I can't seem to figure in time for it anymore. And I had plans!

Scotchmas, the Finale (Part Three)

So the night before we left, these were the bottles that were still left: Black Grouse, JW Black, Laphroig 10, Glenlivet 12, Macallan 15, Highland Park, the second Balvenie Double Wood, Johnny Walker Single Barrel, Maker's Mark 46 and Maker's Mark. (Although JW Black and both Maker's Marks were bought the weekend before we left on Monday, and the Black Grouse and Double Wood were bought right before we left for the week-long cruise.)
Above are the empties: two JW Green Labels, JW Gold Label (rest in peace), Laphroig Cask Strength, Lagavulin, the first Balvenie Double Wood, and a Pinch. Which brings us to the final picture:
I really had to widen the shot to get everything in, and we weren't sure they'd all fit. But there they are, almost all of them still with their boxes.

It was a very Merry Scotchmas and to all, a good night!

Just one regret: we saw a Johnny Walker Double Black and a JW Swing, had never heard of either of them (I hadn't, at least). Today Hubby looked it up--Double Black is only available internationally. It's supposed to be smokier than regular Black. And Hubby tried Black on the cruise decided he liked it better than the Black Grouse (its procurement had been a Scotchmas miracle too, btw, as we couldn't find it in any of our local alcohol stores back home), so now we have an agenda for the next time we go on a cruise, I'm afraid.

I actually have my own regret: on Thursday of the cruise we did a wine tasting and Hubby won a bottle of Champagne. We were supposed to open it our last weekend but with all of the Scotch, neglected to so instead I think my mother-in-law will consume it and I won't get to try a taste. I think it was a nice bottle of Champagne, too.

Scotchmas, continued (Part Two)

Above, a picture of the blended Scotches: two Johnny Walker Green Labels, one Johnny Walker Black Label (albeit a much larger bottle than the rest), one Johnny Walker Gold Label (universally loved), The Black Grouse, and in front, the Pinch.
Above, the first picture of just single malts: Laphroig 10 year, Laphroig Cask Strength (mellower than the Laphroig 10 but still uh, Laphroig), Lagavulin (possibly Hubby's favorite Scotch ever), and the Glenlivet 12 (very drinkable, in my opinion).

Continuing on, below:
The rest of the single malts: the Macallan 15, the Highland Park 12, and two Balvenie Double Woods.
And bringing up the rear, the American whiskys: Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, Maker's Mark 46, and regular Maker's Mark. All good drinks.

So those were all of the offerings of Scotchmas. In the next post, a huge final picture, as well as empties versus fulls.

Scotchmas, the Genesis (Part One)

This became this
and then this:
and this was not the final picture.