Return of the wednesday comic!

Today is my day off and it's a good thing too cause I've been miserable with a cold for the last 4 or 5 days. I went home early on monday and missed work on tuesday. I'm feeling like I'll be good to go back tomorrow though.

I should start having at least one day off in the middle of the week from now on. So you should expect to see the comics in a more regular way in the near future.

I sketched out this one on my break one day last week. I envision Georgie as been nearly as sarcastic as Angela.

Yesterday I sat on the couch and watched Weeds. I love that show. Angela hates it so much that she won't even sit in the livingroom when I watch it. The first episode really freaked her out.

Well, I'm beat now.

--Abe

My green thumb may have fallen off

So a bit ago, we finally gave Abe's mom back her plants. She had forgotten about them. And we had done a good bit of killing on them. Nothing was quite dead, but nothing was growing well either. We had two plants that were growing well and they were my plants. Here they are.

This first one is in a cute little terracotta pot my friend Rijl gave me for my birthday last year. There was Sindy's desert cactus in it, but we transplanted it when we gave the plants back to Sindy. I had to move it out of another holder because it had gotten so big. I have no idea why it is growing so well. I guess I am using Miracle Grow Moisture Control, but the extra grow stuff is only supposed to last for three months. It has been much longer than that. I put this pot in a bowl because the hole in the bottom is so large the water would just fall right out. I want to knit or crochet a holder for it. This one looks really good hung up.

Here is another plant of the same type. It is not growing quite so abundantly, but still not bad. This one is in an awesome Owl pot I got at Goodwill, I think. This is one of my favorite pots. This one is adorable hung up where you can really see the owl. For some reason, they keep turning whiteish. I am not sure what that means, but when it happened to this one, I moved it down to the table where it could possibly get more light and that seemed to fix it. But now it has happened to the other one, which I think you can see a little.

And then there was my ill-fated attempt with catnip. I killed this off, but then when I thought all was lost (the plant was entirely dead, so I pulled it out), a couple of little sprouts came up. So I watered those and they have grown into this. The first two have fallen over and a third one has sprouted. I can't wait to watch this grow. I don't know what will happen since they keep falling over. The cat liked it when we first got it and ate it right off the plant a couple times, but she went a little overboard and we had to hide it from her. She is leaving it alone now.

When we went to see 9, mom gave me some plants. This one is the oregano. I don't use oregano that often, but perhaps I will try some now that I have this fresh stuff. I will for sure wait for it to grow a bit, take hold, before I use any. This one looks kind of straggly, but mom said that is how oregano looks. This is actually planted in an ugly little pot I made in high school. I made a number of things in high school that I still have, like this from art class and a bench from wood working. I think it might be my least favorite thing I ever made in those classes. I guess there is also this ugly little napkin holder that I did a terrible, Terrible job on.

And here is some mint. I asked mom to bring me some mint so I might be able to try some fresh mint tea. Teeny tiny little thing that I can't wait to watch it grow. This is in a little pot that I got a cactus in for my birthday in high school. It took a while, but I eventually killed that. It melted. I let it go too long without water and then gave it too much water. But the pot itself is pretty adorable. I don't know if I will like it completely fresh, but perhaps I can dry it and save it for later.

Note that this is an older post that I forgot to publish. I got excited with other things, like the Phat Fiber stuff (which is waiting for my return at my aunt's where I forgot it). I have some nifty stuff to post about including MORE yarn stuff. From Knit Picks and the Blue Moon.

I have too been knitting!

I have started reading the blog of the guy who did (does?) Mouseguard (David Petersen). I haven't read any, but I am intrigued and intend to read them at somepoint. Anyways, on his blog I got to the NYT (New York Times) Graphic Novel Best Sellers. The Hardback ones are mostly Batman. The paperback Watchmen has been on the top 10 for 28 weeks! That is a list I would like to keep an eye on.

I have an idea for some gloves. First I will write the pattern as best I can. Then I will knit a pair for me and a pair for Abe and then the pattern should be ready. This one will take a little bit of non-knitting research first, but I think it should be pretty cool. I got Abe's yarn coming in the mail. I kind of went nuts on the Knit Picks site. For Abe's gloves we got the Stroll Tweed Sock Yarn in Blue Ox. I also got the yarn for my sweater and the Tidings of Joy kit. And a bit of surprise that is in preparation for Xmas. Yeah, I know.

Anyways, here is the Ogre Lolita sketch. I will get the watercolor pic up perhaps Monday.

I also finally got a picture of the Penguin Tawashi I made for Abe. Took me long enough. Abe says it is too cute to actually use as a washcloth. Gah. What a waste. Just joking. It is pretty cute. I kind of had to fudge the pattern because I didn't quite get it. But I think it turned out okay. He is just sitting on top of a jar for now. He was on top of Abe's coffee maker, but Abe kept picking him up by the head instead of the wing so he head was always partially concaved, which looked really weird. It was a lot of fudging, but still pretty fun to crochet.

And here's is Abe's Trilobite Hat (on my head). Actually, I got a professional cut and dye the other day and now my hair looks great. I like it a lot. A regular bob with straight bangs.

Here is the detail of the trilobite. You can see there is a lot of ribbing and Abe is really tall, so unless he is sitting no one will really see the pattern. Oh well. Abe likes it. Sorry the pattern is blurry. This was the only picture of the detail without dog hair on it.

And here is what it looks like to the normal person who is just looking at the hat on someone else's head and not hovering over them Almost looks just like a ribbed hat. Oh well. The color in the previous picture is truer to color. And that is totally a poster of Perfect Blue in the background.

Next comes some roving I dyed from the huge lot of wool I bought on Craigslist almost a year ago. I fret so much about running out that I rarely use it. But that should be fixed. I am getting over it. There is always more wool somewhere. So this is a second dip batch. The color was black with a little green. The first yarn came out a lovely grey color. And the second batch came out this great gray green color. I like it a lost. I wish I knew how to make it again, but I think I would have to make the gray first, again. The picture isn't that great, but I think the color is pretty accurate.

And the Monkey Farts! That is seriously the color name for this brown and yellow and white roving. You can see I also spun up a bunch (maybe half?) and I think it is fingering weight. There is a penny in the middle one, which I realize after I opened it on the computer that a penny was probably the wrong choice. Any other coin probably would have worked a lot better. :) This is from Spunky Eclectic and I like it a lot. I think this is the BFL (blue-faced Leicester) roving.

Next is the wonderful Blue Moon roving I got during a break during the one class I took at Madrona Fiber Festival earlier this year. Oh man. This is the softest stuff. I think it is a mix of wool and silk or something equally pleasant. But the fibers are a lot shorter than the Monkey Farts so I keep pulling too far and dropping the spindle. Very annoying. But I think it is spinning up quite lovely. Both of these are a Navajo 3-ply. Which is about all I ever do because it is so fun (and I don't really know how to do anything else and this one guarantees that you won't have leftovers, which I dread.)

On Saturday, Abe wanted to go to Barnes and Noble to get the next in the Recluse series, which he is really enjoying. So I looked around. I almost got a few books, but instead I got a keychain version of Boggle! Which I intended to bring up Saturday night to Outback for dinner with my family, but I forgot it. Plus we were way late so we wouldn't have had time anyways. I looked at a bunch of craft books. I checked out Epstein's Knitting on Top of the World. I was not impressed. It appears that most of the patterns are in various pinks and purples and I am not so into that. Not since early grade school anyways. And the patterns were all very strange. Like strange for the sake of being strange. I want to get teh book Dyer's Garden, but they didn't have it last time and I think I will get it from some other place when I do get it. I totally want to get the book Subersive Cross Stitch. I think I should do one of her free patterns first, though, to see if I like cross stitch. Looks very simple.

We also got 2 cds while at BnN. Abe got the new Ingrid Michaelson CD, Be OK, which is pretty good, but so much softer than her last one which was very rock (which is great). And we got Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Murder Ballads. It appears this CD was recorded over a period of years, which explains why his vocals vary so much. Sometimes they are pretty bad (can't hit a note in the first try) but some are pretty good. There are a couple ladies who sing in a couple different songs. Those are really pretty. The lady singers are better than he is, but the sound great together.

Also on Saturday, Village Yarn and Tea was having a huge moving sale (they are moving to an awesome new location, thought it would be had to have a location as bad as the one they have now). I am really excited. They are going to be in the same lot as a great book store, so I think I will go there a lot more because Abe will want to go to the book store. Anyways, I got this great yellow tea pot for only $5. How awesome is that!? It holds about 3 cups (mug versions, not tea cups). I have the same or similar teapot in brown too. That brings me up to 6 tea pots. Abe says I have a problem...

I also got this Peony Tear Drop tea from their clearance and now I am really sad because I think they will not be carrying it any more and it is amazing. This is the tea I have been looking for. But they have another Peony tea that I will try - White Peony Tea.

While at the sale, I also got the yarn to make some felted slippers from the book Knit 2 Together, which is a great book. I love the pattens in this book. Anyways, the yarn is Manos Del Uruguay in gray and yellow. (The colors I used are not on that site...) I knit the slippers in under 4 hours. (I think I mention this above, too.) Anyways, the are currently sitting on top of the oven, which is on, so they will dry because they are all felted. To felt them, I got them wet and put them in the dryer with a pair of jeans. Works pretty well. Just check them every 15 minutes or so. I think these are going to be nice and warm. I wish they were dry already because my toes are cold and I want to wear them now. I think I may make another similar pair for deeper in the winter that come further up my foot. Perhaps even a few inches up my ankle. These are really just slip ons. Though they will work fine with socks.

I also got this great yarn. Cashmere lace weight. Maybe even cobweb. I have no idea what to make with it. It was so on sale, I had to buy at least one skein. 1500 yards. Not bad. Perhaps a cowl, but that will barely touch the yardage. I was thinking perhaps Ice Queen from Knitty. That is the kind of cowl I want to make, one that slides down around your neck or extends up over your head.

But seriously, this is how good the price was. Only $10.70. Regulary around $20, so 50% off. Who can complain about that. And 100% Cashmere!! And I just love this color.

Finally, I also got (well, Abe bought it really) this Claudia Hand painted fingering weight yarn in Eat Your Veggies for another Abe hat. I know I just made him one, but I suck at making his hats. They all slip off his pointy little head. This time, I am going to make the Ganomy hat. I think this will be great. I might even add little buttons and loops on the ear points so he can flip up the ears so he can hear. I am going to make a similar hat for myself with some handspun I bought at the Bellingham Farmer's Market. Mine will be pointy and Abe's will be fitted. I am really excited to make this very popular Elizabeth Zimmerman hat.

So after all the wonderful shopping, I frantically tried to get the September Phat Fiber kit. At 5:00 (7cst), I crazily clicked through all the purchasing steps and I got it! At 5:01, I was back on the Etsy site and they were all sold out!! There were 37 of the option I chose, so I can't even imagine. That is crazy. Less than 60 seconds to sell out. Anyways, I am super excited. I have three things coming in the mail now. The Knit Picks order, this fiber box, which is a random box of spinning and knitting stuff, and some buttons for the Girl Friday sweater. These buttons are awesome. She may become my main source of buttons (which isn't saying much because I don't often buy buttons.

And Saturday night, after a very quick and nearly cold meal at Outback in Burlington, we went to 9. This was a great movie to watch, but the story was missing something. I wish Tim Burton had directed it or helped write the script because it was a dark, twisted movie that just needed that extra little push from Burton to make it a great movie. It had a lot of potential, but never really got to that great point I was hoping for. Ah well. I am really glad I saw it on the big screen because it is wonderful to look at. Maybe Burton could do a sequel. I think that is possible and it left potential for continuation of the story. But the next one needs a little something extra.

And now Abe and I are both sick. The cold appears to be going around both our work places (perhaps even the flu at his place). Ah well. We'll live. I just have a hard time drawing, especially when I am sick. I need to do something, but I can't think of anything. Last night I came up with an Arthur and Georgie script with a joke I have wanted to do for a really long time, so perhaps I will do that tonight. And I will drink my Gypsy Cold Care tea and feel better.

--Angela

Crepes are awesome

So now that Abe is working, I am taking turns cooking dinner. We have a little more money for food, so we get to be a little more creative. A while ago we got quick recipe Weight Watchers book and a delicious recipe for chicken, spinach, and mushroom crepes. So I decided to make that. But it calls for prepared crepes and I couldn't find any so I decided to try to make them. Last night I looked up the recipe for crepes in Joy of Cooking and made the mix. But then in needs to sit for 30 minutes up to 2 days, so I let it sit until today.

Anyways, then today, we made the dinner. Abe made the filling. Here's the mushrooms frying up in the cast iron pan. They turned out perfectly. He followed the recipe...

He had already cooked the chicken the night before while I was making the crepe batter (and the Irish Stew was reheating). So after the mushrooms cooked up, he added the chicken, the lightly cooked spinach, and fat free cream cheese. After tasting it, he said it needed salt (it did).

So while all that was going on, I was making crepes. They were surprisingly easy, though I didn't let the pan heat up enough for the first one, so it was a bit undercooked. This first pic is of the crepe after I flipped it.

This second crepe is before I flipped it.The pan is smaller than it was supposed to be, but I think it turned out better that way.














And here is the final crepe that I totally screwed up. So I finished cooking it and Abe and I split it. Actually quite yummy. The only difference between these savory crepes and the sweet crepes is 1.5 tablespoons of sugar.







And here they are all made up! They were so good, though I am still hungry. Next time, I think 4 each. These were pretty little. The recipe is for a crepe with 3/4 cup of the filling and should make 4 servings. But this seemed about that much filling and it appears there is more than a cup and a half left.







So the crepes were really easy to make. I watched Baking with Julia the other day and did what they did with the shaking the batter all over the pan. Actually that is how I made the bad one. I shook too much and it had already started to set so it flew off. The only problem is a bit too much butter because I think there is a teaspoon of butter to cook every crepe. Next time I want to try olive oil in a spray bottle (which we already have one of those pump sprayers).

In dog news, we have two jerks for certain. They are still randomly fighting. Tonight, Ernie went over to Nisa's bowl while she was still eating and tried to get a toy and of course Nisa went to defend her food. We got them apart pretty quick but Nisa got Ernie pretty bad. I pulled him away from Nisa after Abe had picked her up and he was wincing his eye. I wiped at it and there was a fair amount of blood on the palm of my hand. Yikes. I couldn't see where it was coming from because around his eye is all black and watery and the lighting was awful. So Abe took a look and we salined it and dabbed at it with a napkin. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly. We took them out for a walk and could get a good look at his eye to see what happened because the light was so much better (even though it was totally overcast and trying to rain). Looks like he has a rip in his lower eyelid almost 1/4 of an inch. Yikes. I think he will be okay. Perhaps we will continue putting saline in his eye. Though probably not unless it looks like it needs it. This is the second time he has had an injury on his eyelid.

And in knitting news, I am working on the second Lorna's lace knee-high sock. I also spun up half a Blue Moon thing of fiber. Lovely. Absolutely loverly. I can't decide what to make from it. Perhaps a cowl or something. Anyways, the sock is working out quite well. I have one done and it is pretty nice. I can't wait to wear it this winter. When I am done with the sock, I will knit some yellow fingerless gloves. I found the pattern for the Fingerless Glove group on Ravelry for the September KAL (knit along). Then I will make the Girl Friday sweater!! I am super excited. I plan to use Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Cobblestone Heather. I also want to get this Tidings of Joy Holiday kit and Corrie Fair Isle Bold Vest Kit. They look like so much fun. I am absolutely dying to get them. The Tidings of Joy Holiday kit is ornaments. That is less than a dollar each! And very redoable.

Edit: Just FYI, but I really tried to format this with the pics and it just refused to work. So much for a good WYSIWYG.

Wednesday Comic!

Angela drew this one on the tablet. It looks great!

I'm so tired. Monday night at 2 am Ernie started this terrified howling that woke us both up. The poor guy had had a bad dream or something and scared himself awake. He was so scared that he actually pee'd a little in his kennel.

We took care of him for a bit until he clamed down but then it took me about an hour and a half to fall back asleep.

Then I woke up about 45 minutes late because, in my mostly asleep panic, I had turned off our alarm. I got ready for work in about 20 minutes and was able to make it on time thanks to tuesdays being work at home day for Angela.

It was very exciting. And that's why I'm tired right now.

So, it turns out that there's a 95% chance that my job is seasonal and they just don't tell the people they hire. I've been talking with people that work there who are actual employees and they told me that they usually let all the people with my job go starting in mid-january.

Angela and I decided to curtail the frenzy of buying stuff that we had planned in favor of saving and paying off bills so that, if I do get laid off again, we'll have a much easier time of if because our expenses will be lower and we'll actually have some money in our savings.

Going to sleep now.

Abe

been very busy

Sorry it's been so long without an update. I've been working a lot and have been too tired to draw comics. I will try to get some done this week so we can start posting again.

Abe

Vacation Rules!

Whoops. Been a while. We've even done a lot of things. But Abe started work this week and I am on vacation. So lazy lazy...

So last weekend, we saw District 9. That was a really good movie. It was a different plot than I anticipated based on the previews, but the movie was very good. Abe said it was the best sci-fi movie in a long time. The CGI was great. The aliens were great.
I really don't want to give anything away, so I will just say when the movie was over we sat there for a while letting it all sink in before we got up. Actually, we went to the new movie theater at Northgate...well, south of Northgate in "Thorton Place" where most of the other locations are empty with signs that say "X coming Summer 2009." Looks like they will miss that mark. And a freakin' matinee is $8.50!! Still $2 cheaper than regular, but what a rip off. The theater in Burlington/Mt. Vernon is $6 for a matinee. Speaking of, in 2 weeks, we are going to see "9" at the Mt. Vernon one. I am so excited for that movie.

We also got a china cabinet from my aunt Carol and it is replacing a nasty old bookshelf we had that the back was coming off of and was missing a shelf. We might sand and paint it. I was thinking yellow with blue highlights and a bit of red. Then Tony, my cousin who brought it over, asked if I was painting it black, and that got me thinking. I eventually want a kitchen those colors, but since I don't have them now, I can really paint this any colors I want. And a black china cabinet could be awesome. (I totally just spelled 'could' as 'cood.' Vacation is over soon, but until then, I am not required to use my brain.)

I also knit Abe a hat. I missed his first day of work, but it was ready for the second. He can't wear it anyways because it is too hot. It is the Trilobite Hat from Knitty. I used Malabrigo in Burgundy. Looks great. Looked better, but I had to cut off the ribbing and rework the rib for 25 rows instead of 10. Turns out that is why I can't make a hat that fits Abe. His head is normal size around but an inch taller than most people. Where I think my head may be bigger around than most. Or I just have WAY too much hair.

I also started and have almost finished a painting of ogre Lolita. It is turning out really well. Water color. It is really fun to paint. I think I am learning a lot. This is a more complicated picture than the Blue Lady.

And I started (and have almost finished) Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs, who the TV show Bones is based on. It is actually pretty good. I like her writing style and the story is pretty engaging. They funny part is how much the writing, in particular the opening, sounds like the character Brennan in Bones. The writing style could not be more opposite from Twilight. The grammar and vocabulary assume a much more educated audience. It is a nice change...I guess I have been reading a lot of young adult books, but that is no excuse!

I have also been doing a lot of cross words, but mostly on my vacation, I have read and painted. And a little knitting, but mostly at night. I am working on a pair of fairly plain knee-high socks right now. I am trying to decide if I need to rip back to the increases to make it fit better, but we'll see if I am too lazy.

And also this weekend I scored some good pieces when shopping. I got two shirts for $10 each at torrid: a nice yellow one with a scoop neck and a bright green wrap style. That last one needs a tank top underneath, but it looks great. I love the color. I also got a pair of shoes for $17 at Fred Meyer's. Cute shoes. I can wear them with socks so when it is colder, I can wear some of my hand knit socks. Yeah!