Well, I had a wonderful day. I slept late after having jackhammers wake me up early twice this week. Then I went to a client where I really enjoy being there. Then I went to a store I’d never visited, to get supplies for another client/friend whose computer was having serious problems.

Great Stores, Wonderful People
This store is called Ozel Computer Solutions. They are located on Trowbridge Road behind Apple Sports, for the local folks. I so enjoyed being there. First of all, they had what I needed for this client, which wasn’t a big deal purchase but it was so very convenient. And convenient was the driving force today, I was trying to get as many things crossed off my list as possible (and after a late start).

I had been to my primary computer supplier yesterday, Cyber Exchange in Okemos (they are in the same complex as Yarn for Ewe). I have had wonderful experiences with them - especially for Foster Center’s classroom. I buy as much there as I can, but I didn’t feel I had time to drive out there again today by the time I got started.

But what I enjoyed most about Ozel was the two men working there, not my purchase. They are from Turkey, and we got talking about Turkish tea, Turkish dancing and Turkish socks. I love talking to people who were not raised in the US. I always learn something.

They were pretty surprised I knew anything about their homeland. Well, as you know, I really love Turkish socks. One man said that he had never really thought about the Turkish socks as special, they are just what he is used to. I think I got him to see how special they are. We even surfed to my earlier blog entry about my “Turkish Zig” sox that were knit in a top-down, western knitting style, but with a cuff inspired by a Turkish knitting pattern. We had so much fun! (Pictures are of authentic Turkish socks, from http://TurkishCulture.org

Good Ethnic Food Markets
After I left there, I went to the asian market next door, and then I went down the other way to the Indian market. I got green tea with ginseng, fortune cookies, flavored tofu and a few other things at the asian market, and I got split green peas, assam tea, and sugar coated fennel seed (candy) at the Indian Market, Swagath Foods.

I was totally in heaven, all those world cultures in one building! And my, the good meals we will have because of this adventure! I just love the small markets in Lansing, they are getting better and more plentiful. It makes me feel less stranded in this size city. It makes me glad I live here.

Blessed Quiet Time
Tonight Brian went back to the Bluegrass Festival and I stayed home. We will be camping with his family for the next two days (I will be away from my computer, I’ll see you back here on Monday). That means I needed some serious alone/quiet time before leaving. You know that I get around a lot, because you read my adventures. But this grrl needs serious quiet time as well, and I usually get only one day off which is Sunday.

If I am going to be in a large family gathering all day Saturday and Sunday, I need to store up quiet time now. I’m from a very small family and these gatherings, while pleasant, are overwhelming sometimes. I want to stay pleasant when I am with these people I truly like. I just like them one at a time… all of them at once is quite overpowering for me!

I tend to just stay at the edge of the crowd, so that I have a little more personal space, and that helps me a lot. Yes, I’m very social, but I tend to socialize one-on-one, or at gatherings where there is a structure for what we do and when (such as guild meetings). I am sure I will have a good time this weekend, but I’m also glad that I got this peace and quiet tonight.

Spinning Success
So tonight I sat down and spent 45 minutes spinning. I finally got it! I am spinning sockweight yarn (it will be two-ply). I’m pretty sure the green/aqua/turquoise superwash merino I was working on for my mother, will be more like sportweight yarn unless I knit it as a single ply. But this is a wonderful hot purple romney, handwash, just for me. And I am spinning thin enough for a two ply yarn to be about fingering weight, even on my newer wheel which is fast and pulls the yarn harder than my old wheel. I learned to thread my ply on the bobbin hooks to slow it down a bit, but on top of that I just finally understood with my hands what to do. And that 45 minutes just flew by.

Tony’s Garden
Oh, my friend Tony popped by for a little bit, too, early this afternoon. It was so good to see him. I gave him a cup of tea and we talked of many things for nearly an hour. What a worthwhile distraction that was. He is working on his yard and garden these days and his plans are very interesting. He is considering constructing some containers for plants. He showed me a book with some ideas of this type and they look very interesting.

My Garden
I love planting my flowers in containers. I get very large pots and fill them with “container soil” which has little nodules that soak up moisture like crazy and then hold it there for a long time, so things don’t dry out much. I have had much success, both in sunny and shady areas, with this approach. My sunny area has Geraniums, mostly. My shady area has impatiens. Both are sort of a pinkish-coral color, sometimes with a spot of white.

I am still trying to figure out flowers on the dark violet color range to put with them (love those colors together). The last few years I got purple lobelia which I adore. However, they want to be watered every day, so they get really thin fast, the way I water.

I’m thinking maybe one velvet-purple petunia in each container, or maybe pansies. I like the petunia idea (other than I don’t like their smell) because they can cascade over the edge of the pots, and they seem to thrive no matter what, in other folks’ gardens and containers. Maybe I’ll do this, or maybe I’ll stop the gardening for the year and try that next year.

I did not get to my own garden today at all. Of course, it poured just buckets and buckets for a very long time yesterday, but I will want to water everything before we leave tomorrow morning. When we get back I will plant the last few plants of the season. These are a beautiful perennial Marlene gave me with yellow flowers (they grow well near hostas and I have many happy hostas in my front yard), five Stella D’Oro daylilies, and nasturtium seeds. I have never planted any seeds as an adult, so I am hoping I can do these well. I’m crossing my fingers.

The lilies and the nasturtiums (nasturtia?) are for a very sunny patch of lawn by the street, where the grass dies every late July. These plants do well with lots of sun and don’t need constant attention after they get established. I’m hoping I do a good job- we will see how I do.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2003 at 11:49 pmand is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.