White Asparagus!

Mmmh... we had white asparagus for dinner, it was just divine! My favourite vegetable, even as a child! I always picked 'Spargel' for my birthday dinner (Did you get to pick the dinner on your birthday? My mum didn't cook separate food for the kids so it was a big treat to get to decide what was on for dinner). It's really good with Hollandaise, but that's a tricky sauce that we usually left to restaurant chefs to deal with, at home we usually made do with melted butter.



This type of asparagus grows underground, that's why it's white. We never grew it in our vegetable garden, only one of my aunt had some beds, i think it takes about 3 years until the 1st harvest, you have to have good soil and make ridges, and the trickiest part is that you have to cut it before the tip breaks the surface. Less than perfect asparagus tips are grey or green because they haven't been cut in time, after cutting you have to reshape the ridge, so the other growing asparagus tips don't get exposed to light. You only get 'Spargel' in spring, and only until St. John's day if i remember right, the summer solstice.

To buy, it's an expensive vegetable, due to the short season, the labour intensive harvest (it's hand cut, there's no machine that can do it!) and probably also because it's so delicious.

I found it in the farmers market at the Skerries Mills, i think the only other place I've seen it in Ireland was in Fallon&Byrne, the delicatessen in town. At the mills, it possibly came from the Netherlands and might have been organic, and I paid about 6€ for ten stalks, which is enough for 2 portions. (Even though I'd probably have no trouble eating 10 or 15, i'd just be mostly ignoring the ham and spuds...)

If you want to give it a go, make sure you buy some that's not green at the tips, and if you get to pick the actual stalks try and get similar thicknesses. Cut of the woody ends (I find it hard to tell where they start, but my mum has it down to a tee) and peel from just below the tender tips to the bottom with a vegetable peeler (save the ends and peels for asparagus- (or vegetable-) soup). For the professional approach you need a tall pot, and you tie the asparagus stalks in a bundle and stand them up, with the tips just above the water (my mum usually ignores this, and cuts the stalks into three pieces, bottom, middle and top, and throws the bottom ones in first, the tips last.) Cooking time is about 20 minutes, maybe more, you really want these to be much softer than green asparagus, completely tender, but you don't want the tips to fall apart. here are some more explanations. Serve with new potatoes, butter or sauce hollandaise, and for the carnivores, some boiled ham. Yum...

By the way, the farmers market in Skerries makes for a great saturday morning/afternoon, you could have your breckie or lunch in the Mills, or have a delicious grilled Nurnberger Bratwurst with mustart and bread at the German sausage stand, and then buy your fruit and veg. I also got some durum wheat bread at the Soul Bakery stand, and some tea from Larrol's. There are also the usual italian delicatessen, and cheese and egg stands. They are open 10-4.

Oh, did I mention dessert was rhubarb crumble and custard, made by my dear husband P?

thrifting...

on the way to the farmers market in skerries we passed a car boot sale, and apart from a little tin watering can and a few plain white linen napkins i picked up these treasures!


a single chenille throw, white, 100% cotton.
my 'bend the rules sewing' book has a pattern for bibs, and i'm planning to make some bibs and burp cloths a la happythings. i have lots of cute fat quarters that i can use, and some recycled cottons, too. i just have to get started again. hard to do with the weather still being lovely.


2 pillow cases, probably poly cotton, with lace detail


a kind of matching flat sheet (or was it a duvet cover? my memory is really letting me down, i only took these pictures saturday night!), the flower cotton is actually much more faded than the pillow cases, but the plain yellow fabric is darker, and the lace is different, it looks like somebody might have tried to make this matching afterwards, it's definitely home sewn.

so, as these fabrics are lovely and soft from years of washing, i'm thinking baby bedlinen? i suppose it'll have to wait till we've got a crib. my friend will lend us her moses basket for the 1st few months, but i have to start looking for a crib soon. there are several 2nd hand websites around, i'm thinking getting the crib itself off www.gumtree.ie or www.dublinwaste.ie and then just buying a matching mattress?

of course this fabric would be a little too girly for a boy. i just don't know, should we book a private scan and ask to find out the sex? i'm worried that if they get it wrong i'd find it harder to bond if i was expecting one but got the other? on the other hand, it would be handy and it would give us some time to prepare, and if i saw some cute not-gender-neutral outfits i could just give in and buy them!

i also like the idea of a 'co-sleeper' bed, in case i manage to breast feed i would prefer not to have to get up in the middle of the night. they are little cots that attach to your bed, so the baby has its own little bed but it's at the same level as yours so you can just reach over for cuddles and for feeding. has anybody got any experience with these?

a proper real tiny baby! for real!

moving around, scratching its head, clasping its hands!
it seemed so unreal but the ultrasound technician assured me, it's really mine, in my belly! i couldn't quite connect the two, the picture of a baby on the screen and that it really should be inside me, i can't feel anything yet! and there's no real bump either!
it's about 9 cm big now.
i also got assessed for the midwifery led unit and 'passed'! that doesn't neccessarily mean i will give birth there, but at least i've got the chance.
time to get organised for yoga classes, and 'gentle birth' classes, err, are there breastfeeding classes!?

PS should i be worried about the baby's big belly?? the ultrasound technician didn't seem worried, but she was very rushed and didn't have much time (a little disappointing seeing as this is my only official scan... if my GP didn't happen to have a machine it would be the only scan for the whole 9 months! but of course as a GP he's not fully equipped and trained to measure and spot problems, he does it just for a bit of reassurance that the baby's moving and its heart is beating)

BBQs

4 BBQs in 7 days! we're making the most of the weather, you never know how long it lasts in this country... i'm pretty wasted now, spent all day finishing the ironing, and tidying up, and cooking, then we sat out with our neighbours and ate, a lot... chicken skewers, pork skewers, burgers, tomato salad, potato salad, corn on the cob... and now, an hour later, i still managed a mars ice cream bar... savage! it was lovely and laid back, just 4 grown ups and a baby, so there was no hassle getting food ready for everybody at the same time.

in germany it was mother's day today, i have a cute old photo scanned, but i don't have it to hand... maybe later this week! (13.05.08: i found it! here it is!)
(I wasn't the prettiest baby, i admit, i got a little cuter for the following 4 years or so, honest!)


tomorrow i have my 'booking appointment at the hospital. i'm really nervous. i'm really hoping the baby is still there, and alive and healthy! i'm also hoping i will get into the midwife led unit, but i'm fairly healthy and a good weight and haven't had any complications so far, so fingers crossed!

shattered now, i think it's nearly bedtime for me, want to be well rested for tomorrow, a friend said it might take all day! and the last two nights i hardly slept, lots of nightmares to do with hospitals and giving birth...

money matters...

Do you ever wonder if you save enough money or give enough to charity? Or if you should be spending this much on a new pair of shoes? I was just reading this post on how to divide up your money on apron thrift girl and I think it's a great concept. I've heard about it before, and while i won't be keeping my money in jars I think I might calculate how much I 'should' be saving and spending on different things, and compare it to what I actually spend it on... Every now and then I keep track of what I spend, but I usually give up very quickly as it's sickening to see how much goes on coffees and lunches every day, I've never mastered the packed lunch for any serious length of time, it usually goes well for a few weeks and then I fall off the wagon. And I do enjoy those take away coffees immensely, they give me this 'girl about town' feeling, when i walk into the office with my latte and croissant!
We're off to a friend's house this afternoon, so I better stop reading blogs and musing about take away coffees and get that ironing done before we go!

green kitchen photos

the kitchen, in crown 'tropical green'



dining area





these 5 tulips are all i got this year...


the fig tree actually has figs! after an atrocious summer last year and a long winter that only really ended 2 weeks ago! i don't really know how figs work, i didn't even think it would survive the winter, i never noticed any blossoms! (maybe because i didn't go out much in the awful weather)


evening sun on the patio

soakers?

i know i'm probably being really naive that i'll be able to cope with looking after a baby and still have time to consider using cloth nappies, but don't these soakers look ever so cute? there are 220 projects on ravelry, it must be a good pattern... i wonder will i knit one in newborn size or should i go up one size as i won't have time to dress myself never mind do extra loads of washing and try folding muslin for nappies? what about allergies, what are these soaked in? i have quite sensitive skin, i wonder would my baby be able to wear wool? how often do you (hand?)wash the wool soakers?

garden photos ...and little cotton socks

fig, it survived the winter


stock, sowed 2 years ago, i think it keeps resowing itself, it actually had a few blossoms even in winter!


gooseberries



tomato plants


sage


rosemary, in blossom, i wonder at what point i have to trim it, i think possibly after blossoming?


oregano, and a stray thyme sprig in the background, it seeded itself, so i'm leaving it be and when it's big enough it'll get its own pot, and maybe go to a friend. or to replace it's mother plant, which is getting very big and woody.


cress, radishes, peas (i think, i really should have labelled them...)


"mexican orange blossom", they have a lovely smell


little cotton socks for my friend's baby, made with LIDL cotton on 3.5mm needles

travelling

i was travelling for work last week, and couldn't resist pointing the camera at the windscreen a few times, look at those skyes!

lunchtime in the park

a few photos i took on the first day of may...

tired!!!

still so tired! still waiting for that 2nd trimester energy! had today off after two 12 hour days, and i had so many plans; work in the garden, bake a cake, tidy up, iron, cook dinner, some knitting or sewing... i did none of them...
instead i slept in, had rice pudding and rhubarb (just boiled with sugar) for my breakfast (i figured it's not much different to porridge with fruit and therefore healthy), caught up with some blog reading, had a little lunch (which i nearly threw up, but i just about kept it down, i think i had let myself get too hungry beforehand) and a nap, went for a cycle to buy fruit at the local fruit'n'veg shop, met my neighbour for tea... the only productive thing i did was laundry and dishes... not very impressive. hopefully this downtime will have restored my energy levels to survive another two days in the office.
i read up on growing potatoes in a tyre stack, amongst other sites here
would love to try it, though it might be a little late for that, plus i would want a prettier stacking solution, our garden is too small for stacks of tyres not to make a bad impression... our veggie garden is not taking off so well yet, it's been so cold! and we've neglected the fruit bushes and trees completely. the truth is, i don't really know how to prune and feed them. i pruned the damson tree and it's taken it badly... no blossoms whatsoever. we did nothing to the cherry tree, no blossoms either! i think the gooseberries and redcurrant could have done with some loosening of the soil and some kind of plant food...
i also read some rollercoaster posts, but whenever i read about birth and labour i get very panicky and fearful, it all seems to be so totally out of my control once i get into hospital! 'actively managed labour' seems to still be the norm in ireland, from all i've heard from germany and other european contries it's different there...
i have a funny taste in my mouth from dinner, my brother in law cooked lasagne for us, accompanied by oven chips (i don't get this, chips with lasagne! there's already pasta in it, i wouldn't have spaghetti with spuds either, can anybody explain this to me? is it an irish thing? a canteen thing?) the lasagne was from a 'kit' with 2 jars of sauce and the lasagne sheets. you just add mince. i didn't realise that i haven't eaten food like that in ages, it just didn't taste right, the tomato sauce was as sweet as ketchup, the white sauce strangely salty, plus this strange 'artificial taste', is it msg? it's nice of him to cook every now and then, but it really makes us realise how well we usually eat! (another dinner he cooked once was spuds and carrots and steak, cooked entirely without salt or pepper or any flavourings, with the potatoes and steaks overcooked to take the last bit of goodness and natural flavour out of them. it's the kind of food that really depresses me, i know that's ever so healthy. but i really love my food seasoned!)
Gee, bitchy me, i should be grateful for any night that i'm not cooking (i haven't cooked much at all lately due to ridiculous tiredness) and i am, but i'm really looking forward to not being so crushed tired and cooking a healthy and flavourful meal again... P cooked a lovely chili con carne yesterday by the way, so i'm not all complaints.

the news....

we're expecting a baby!!! this is exciting news, i can finally tell because i'm over the 'mystical' 12 week mark, although i know that doesn't neccessarily mean all will be well... the last pregnancy ended with a (missed) miscarriage at 8 weeks on christmas day, so we're delighted to actually get to see a baby and a heartbeat on the ultrasound this time.

but if you think i'm done worrying now you're wrong... I am very worried the baby might be too small, i had an ultrasound at a GP and it wasn't a very good machine, but on the printout it says 14cm and there are two marks, so technical me assumes that that is the scale of the image so i couldn't resist measuring the baby. on the day of the ultrasound it was supposed to be around 48mm but according to the scale on the printout it's only 34mm, which is nearly two weeks to small! i've been trying to contact the GP since to find out did he take an actual measurement during the scan and are the 14cm on the ultrasound picture an actual scale... but he hasn't called back yet. he's probably sick of me worrying... do any of you know anything about measuring babys on ultrasounds??

how am i feeling? still quite tired, but not as bad as a few weeks ago, a little nauseous, but not really, i get a gagging reflex a lot of the time, when it's bad it makes my stomach contract as well and i probably could get sick quite easily, but it only actually happened once, when i decided to gurgle with mouthwash, maybe not the smartest idea seeing as even just brushing my teeth is the number one gagging trigger! i get exhausted quite easily when i have a stressful day at work, but when it's not too bad i sometimes have the energy to cook dinner or tidy up, but most days i just refuse to see the dust motes and am happy enough to just have a yoghurt for my dinner. the husband unfortunately doesn't care as much about dinners as i, he'd quite happily live on takeouts and frozen pizzas...

i maybe have put on half a kilo now, although i already carried an extra 2 kilos from the last pregnancy, i didn't try to lose it because i thought a bit of extra fat might help me get pregnant again more quickly (and maybe it worked, it only took 2 months) disappointingly i haven't put on a cup size yet! i'm quite sure i got better endowed, but when i went to M&S to get measured for a non wired bra (non existent in a pityful 34B's wardrobe, i heavily rely on padded and wired to balance out my bottom heavy figure), instead of the usual 34B i was measured 32B! i either have been wearing the wrong bra size all along or i actually got thinner... in fact, thinking of my wedding, i was measured 32B then, which surprised me then, and I lost a bit more of my womanly figure after the wedding when i stopped taking the pill... however, the lady in the shop recommended the 34B bras because i'd only get bigger. the maternity ones she showed me were awful, thin cotton things with no support whatsoever! in the end i bought so called 't-shirt' bras, which are comfy and give a nice shape under tops, and give me a nice bit of support. i definitely got nicer cleavage now, whatever the woman's measuring tape says...

i know, i'm getting unusually chatty here, i just can't help myself, it's all so exciting!

string bag 1.1 photos

excuse the bad quality, i had trouble using the flash as it completely overexposed the images (see saturday's) . I must invest in a proper camera. but i think a real SLR is out of the question. Anybody got any experience with the 'nearly SLRs'?

string bag 1.1

progress!
i think i figured out how to make this, it doesn't really look anything like the bag i linked to, but then i'm not actually doing that exact stitch. I am now doing round after round of *yo, k2tog* and am getting a tidy looking result. i have 1 thread separating the 'holes', (like on that one row that was a mistake on the previous version, so i now know what i'd done wrong there, i'd missed one knit row). the previous pattern would make for a sturdier bag, but this one is much easier to keep track of, and to see if there have been any mistakes. i think i may have an uneven number of stitches, which means i have no visible line where i go to the next round, i am always yo and then ktog having the yo of the previous row on the left, and the stitch on the right.
I took some photos showing what the pattern looks like and how i knit it but i must have left my camera cable at work :-( hopefully i will find it there tomorrow morning and i can then upload them, in case anybody is interested!