Disappointed

Well, I'm disappointed.  About last night's supper.  About last night's knitting.

Now, first of all, I think I was public about where I went for supper.  So, to make sure that I don't risk getting into any kind of trouble, I want to make it clear, that I will still go back there to eat, and that a lot of the disappointment was of my own making or my own preferences.

So.  Having said that - we got there, and it was super busy.  We could have waited for 20 minutes for space in the dining room, or we could go to the lounge, and eat our dinner there.  We opted for the lounge.  Next time, I'll make sure we get there earlier or wait.  The lounge had TV's going, two different channels.  And music.  And a lot of people who were there for the drinks, not to eat.  And talking loudly to be heard over the noise.  Five more minutes there and I would have had a headache.  I ordered a steak and seafood combo.  The steak was perfect!  Cooked exactly the way I like it.  Unfortunately, though.... The description mentioned the steak, scallops and shrimp, and a sauce.  I thought the sauce would be on the seafood. Nope.  It was on the steak.  Cream type sauce on steak doesn't really turn my crank... it was edible, and I scraped most of the sauce off onto the seafood where I thought it would be.  But, I won't order that again.  There was lemon, but instead of a wedge like normal, it was a thick (nealy a third of an average sized lemon) slice.  No way to squeeze it on the seafood the way I like to.  Besides, it was well covered in sauce, too.  As is my custom, I asked for rice pilaf instead of any of the potato offerings.  For some reason, last night it was so very dry, that I actually asked for a glass of water (which was really a glass of ice with a splash of water) which I had to take a sip/gulp of for every forkful of rice, so I could chew it.  Also served as an accompaniment was asparagus.  Two or three lovely spears of asparagus - (two or three, because I cut them up into smaller hunks - I think it really was two and a half) - that were pretty much raw.  Now, my mouth and body has this strange reaction... If veggies are raw, they should enter my mouth with a nice glop of some sort of dip - not plain.  I had to, with each piece, convince myself  that it was OK to eat - it was crunchy because it was raw, not because it was too old and had gone "woody".   It was also a milder flavour than I'm used to when I eat asparagus.... so, I thought a few sprinkles of salt might help.... Had to hail the waitress to ask for a salt shaker that wasn't a solid lump in the base. She was great, prompt with a replacement.  Part way into the meal, I'd long finished my first cocktail (seemed weak, but taste was fine - ceasar) so, when I asked for the water (remember, the ice filled glass) I also ordered a Corona.  It was warm.  :(  After the meal, DH ordered a second ceasar for himself-  and it came spicy style.  I was going to hail the waitress, but he said he'd drink it anyway.   He doesn't like complaining about meals at a restaurant.

So - like I said, not all their fault, though there was a little room for improvement.  What is it with restaurants these days, that refuse to cook vegetable served with a meal?  It is especially annoying when it is harder veggies like carrots.  I mean, yeah, I like to eat raw veggies now and again, with dip, or in salads. But with the meal, I'd like them to be cooked.  Besides, if they haven't been cooked for very long, they get cold very very fast.  So, either cook the dang fool veggies, or give me some dip to eat with them.

Anyway - on to the knitting!!

Last night was the next new episode of Walking Dead.  Since he was caught up, DH was going to watch the new episode.  I really wanted to sit in the living room after dinner with him, do my knitting, etc.  So, even though I don't like it at all, I sat there with him during Amazing Race.  Didn't watch it.  Just knitted.  Worked on the pink flora fauna socks that have been languishing for a while.  I would have worked on Sea Cruise, but I'm stalled on them.  Hermione is semi-mindless, so I'd rather save those for when I *am* paying attention to the TV.  So, I got several rounds done on the pink socks.  No pictures - I want to get a little farther first.  I also realized when I downloaded from the camera, that I haven't taken an updated pic of Sea Cruise.  So, when I get my answer on the issue with them, I'll take a picture before I knit on them again.

It was disappointing, because that was all I did.  I had to leave the room when Walking Dead started, in case it ruined it for me, if I ever bother to try to catch up watching.  Instead, I played some games on the computer.  But, this moring, I did do the picture thing:

So, here is the top part of the first Hermione sock completed.  You can see there is a little bit of random pooling in with random colour blips. But, on the other piece, you can see a definite spiral of the yellow... I took another picture of the other side...

I just don't want one spiraling sock.  I have another pair of socks, though they did end up with holes in the toe, where one sock had a large pooling of the colours, and the other was neat little stripes.
Sorry is is a small picture - When I switched out my online photo album when Yahoo closed theirs, I ended up accidentally moving thumbnail pictures instead of full size.  I haven't gotten around to finding the originals to reload them. But, you can tell, that these are definitely not the same, yet they were made with the same yarn, needles, pattern, etc.  Handpaint style - Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fibre Arts. 

I also promised a progress shot of the mystery socks before I rip them.  Here they are - attempted to stretch them on my hand to show the lace pattern better - since they don't fit on my feet.  Unfortunately, that means they are only stretched horizontally, not vertically, so the pattern isn't shown at its best.  But it will be, once I reknit them bigger.  :) 

Interestingly, the next picture shows the colour on the balls best - without me manipulating it, nor trying to get the light perfect, etc. ;D

I also have a picture of the first Hermione sock to share:

Yes, the mystery socks appear again.

Also to share - I was telling you about the sweet Ashleigh helping herself to the new cat food:

And her not so innocent looking face...

You can tell what a nice sunny spot my chair is in. One of the reasons that so far this winter, I haven't had as much trouble with SAD.  That, and the number of grey cloudy days we've had have been few and far between! Such a wonderful mild winter, with almost no snow.  If is does snow a little, or be cloudy, it is only for a day or two, and most of the time, it isn't even cloudy all day long.  I'm certainly not complaining!!

So, that is where I'm up to.  I know what I'm going to blog about tomorrow, it will be a bit of a rant, though.  But I'll try to include some progress on my socks and stuff.  I hope!!