Our first dinner tonite turned out amazing. I mean, living in California is AMAZING. Artichokes in winter?? All the produce is seasonal and beautiful.

MENU: seitan, chicken cacciatore, artichokes (I accidentally typed architecture instead, whoops!), broccoli, roast carrots parsnips and potatoes, rosemary bread and dipping oil. There was pineapple walnut cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.

Last night I attended a fantastic lecture on the legacy of WWII on housing construction in the United States- now I am looking forward to reading more in his book, 194X. I remembered yesterday the soothing power an evening walk, so I am making time for more rambling. This weekend we Bay Area uilleann pipers are hosting our annual conference, which is called a Tionol in the Irish language. I am in need of some maintenance assistance and am very much hoping that someone has an idea solving a niggly issue involving my drones switch. All this wonky weather warps wood… I’ve wrapped a little extra thread around everything and I hope my pipes will hold it together for the weekend. It should be great fun!

I feel like I am cataloging all my hobbies here- anything to avoid my studies! I started knitting myself a bra, which is actually something I’ve wanted to do for years. [UPDATE: what happened to the bra??]