Frederick Wine Trail

Cameo view of Black Ankle Vineyard on a chilly spring day.

Frederick Wine Trail – its so close to DC, and so unknown.

I did four of their vineyards today, and the whole thing cost $50.00 (and this includes one purchase of a $20 bottle). This is up-and-coming wine. It isn’t as established as Virginia wine country, and there isn’t as much to choose from. But I’m all about supporting a local industry. Let’s hope all this wine is good for my heart! Look on frederickwinetrail.com for descriptions and directions.

BERRYWINE Plantation/LINGANOIRE Cellar

This is the granddaddy of the bunch. Its pretty close to Frederick, and its been around the longest . This is the only place where the wine tastings are free. I paid $8.00 to have them pair it up with Irish cheeses and desserts. The estate bottled Chambourcin was very good, and a good value at $20.00. I bought a bottle.

This is THE place to try and buy weird exotics, like dandelion wine (wonderful toasted nutty aftertaste) and Ethiopian tej (a mead with a very strong olive aftertaste – I’ve never tried anything quite like this. Definitely for the adventurous wine drinker, and a bit of an acquired taste for anyone else.)

LOEW’S VINEYARDS

Very small, total mom-and-pop operation. $2 to taste half a dozen wines. This is the only under-capitalized vineyard in the whole bunch, and I always make a point to support the underdog. I didn’t find anything to buy here, but that’s okay.

BLACK ANKLE VINEYARDS
Chickens who think they own the road with the Black Ankle Vineyard Tasting Room tucked away in the background.

California chic meets Maryland farm county. Overpriced wine, but people who like Napa wines are going to like this place. They are the newest on the trail, having just opened in 2008. This place is all about faux redwood and thick adobe-like walls in the bathrooms. The prettiest vineyard of the bunch.

$10.00 to taste six wines (three regular wines and three reserve wines) Even California vineyards typically taste eight wines for $10.00, but none of these vineyards can yet produce what a California vineyard can in terms of volume, so consider it a donation… The reserve wines are very good, but they are running $45.00 a bottle. Out of my price range – I didn’t bite.

There is a cozy little tasting room, and the view from the private events room is stunning. The owners live in Silver Spring, and commute out here. This is the only vineyard on the Frederick Wine Trail that grows and bottles everything they sell on the estate. Purists will love this pedigree.

ELK RUN VINEYARDS
The vines are empty on Palm Sunday at Elk Run Vineyard in Mt. Airy, MD.

There is some very good Cab Sauvignon and Cab Franc being made here. The owners were sitting around the table drinking when I walked in - I felt like I had to apologize in person when I didn’t buy anything (I was really trying to stick to a $50.00 budget, otherwise I would have.)

They had a Cold Friday Vineyard Reserve merlot that was yummy, but they weren’t tasting the Liberty Tavern Vineyard Cab Sauvignon that I really had my eye on (just as well, it was $50.00 a pop). I paid $8.00 to taste six wines of my choice, and the wine chief threw in an extra because I was curious. Not bad.

SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN

This is the closest vineyard to Washington, DC, and the only one on the trail that I didn’t get to, but I have tasted the acclaimed 2006 Comus. It’s a very nice wine that runs $30.00 a bottle. Wine isn’t cheap anymore. I remember when a very fancy bottle cost $25.00 to $30.00, and fancy bottles start at $50.00 these days. Oh well, prices go up, and then you die. What are you gonna do?

***
You get to drive some very pretty Maryland countryside as you go from vineyard to vineyard. My new GPS took care of me out here. Sometimes you’ll see a house with sleeping porches, or a true Appalachian style house with a two story front porch, and there aren't that many of these left. I went on Palm Sunday, when it was rainy and miserable. Not too crowded – I loved it.

More of the Stacy Pullover, and a New Project in the Works

CABLE KNITTING


This pattern is the Stacy Pullover from the book, Big Girl Knits.

Well, I guess I can see the attraction of cable knitting after all. Its kind of cool to watch the cable grow row by row. Honeycomb is easy, because you're only doing the cable one row out of four. But this hasn't stopped me from screwing it up. There has been er...um...a rather steep learning curve, to say the least.

I'm about halfway up the back, and the right side looks like a honeycomb, while the left side looks like a diamond lattice. I can't decide which one I like better yet, but this isn't the point. I thought I was following the C3B, C3F to a "T", but clearly I wasn't.

I updated Ravelry.com with this sweater today. My name on there is "aishamonique". It is necessary to be a member to follow posts on there. Membership is usually granted a couple of days after you apply.

NEW CROCHET PROJECT - ONE BIG GRANNY AFGHAN COMING UP

I've always wanted a big colorful octogon granny square afghan that would cover a queen-size or a king-size bed. A classic pattern for a "rainbow" afghan was recently published in Crochet Today magazine. I went to Moore's, and bought just enough yarn to get started today.

I bought a mix of Bernat Softee Baby yarn, and a little of the yarn the pattern uses, Red Heart Designer Sport. Red Heart has the colors, but I don't care for the texture of this yarn. Bernat is much softer, but I'm probably not going to find all my colors in one season unless I purchase on-line. All the stores are carrying spring pastels in sport weight yarn now, and that's about it.

I probably won't start this project until next month. I have to brush up on the crochet hook - I haven't crocheted in years. But this afghan should be fast, cheap, and easy - it doesn't get any better than that in the yarn world.

So pretty soon, I'll have one knitting and one crocheting project going. Get tired of one, and I'll be able to switch to another one. This should be enough to keep me busy for this year. Two projects is plenty, and three's a crowd...so I better not get tempted to add a third one.

ONE MORE THING

I love it that the Sabian Symbol for the new Moon (today) is Pisces 26: A New Moon Reveals That It's Time For People To Go Ahead With Their Different Projects.

My New Sweater (and Curses of the Cable Knitter!)

This is the sleeve of the navy blue sweater I am currently knitting. I used little bits of scrap yarn to create the multi-colored tweed, since good quality tweed yarn now runs about $20.00 a skein, a price I can't afford.

Knitting the ribbed sleeves and the bottom of both the front and back pieces was super easy. I blew through it!

Yesterday, however, I went over to Eleganza Yarns in Frederick, MD, to get my first lesson in cable knitting from my wonderful friend and teacher, Kristy. The first thing she did was point out that I didn't know the difference between "kfb" (knit front/back, a method for increasing stitches) and "tbl" (through the back loop, which creates a different look but does not increase stitches). This meant I had 13 fewer stitches at the base of the honeycomb than I was supposed to have.

She made me take the whole thing out, and got a tremendous amount of joy out of laughing at my misfortune (never underestimate the power of schadenfreude among ladies who knit together). But don't get me wrong - she was kind enough to give me a free lesson - I've got nothing to complain about.

Finally, we got to the first row of the cable. Now, everyone in my knitting circle keeps telling me how easy cable knitting is "once you get the hang of it". And I can tell you all right now how miserable it is "until you get the hang of it". I've entirely lost the rhythm and momentum of knitting and purling, I can barely handle the stitches once they are on the cable hook, and I have to count constantly because I don't even know if I'm on a front cable or a back cable half the time. The synapses in my brain feel as if they are on strike. I hope to God this is going to get easier or I'm going to stab the next person who gets on my nerves with a crochet hook, or something. And honeycomb is one of the easiest cable stitches out there - can you imagine if I had started with something hard?

Thoughts on Sun, March 7 NYT "Build a Better Teacher"

Just finished reading Elizabeth Green's very interesting article, and I even took notes from it, because it definitely has useful insights for the beginning teacher. But I will say that I also checked the comments posted by other readers (389 posts at the time that I was reading), and the vast majority (300 or so) were very critical. Many of the responders were experienced teachers who pointed out deliberate omissions in the article. Others pointed out that if teachers are to be held totally responsible for their students' performance, parents are also to be considered 100% responsible for their childrens' academic performance, and that anything less smacks of phony entitlement.

Here is the link:

Build a Better Teacher

My own opinion: I have mixed feelings. I think the researchers are turning up some useful techniques for classroom management that can and should be taught to teachers. But I deplore the subtle "witch hunt" strategy that many of these education PhD's or MBA's have apparently championed as the best way to reform education and promote their own careers. The article ran along side an article on Chinese mob justice on the Internet, which the Chinese themselves refer to as "human flesh searching", and the irony behind this does not escape me. Running these two articles side by side was no editorial slip.

Hot Time In A Hotel Tonight...

Its 18 degrees out tonight, but I don't care. I try to treat myself to a hotel once every few weeks, and tonight is the night. $54 for a Super 8 in Hagerstown - heaven!

Now I wish I could just sit in the hot bath and soak my sprained knee, drink some Moscato, and then go straight to bed. But no, when I get a night in a hotel, I have to make it useful. I did an application online that took over an hour, and now I'm soaking the pieces of my sweater in a lanoline solution in the sink (this stuff is like bubble bath for sweaters, but it doesn't smell as pretty). In an hour or so, I'll wring out the pieces, and start pinning the edges to a clean towel (this is called "blocking", and this will be the first time I'm doing it).

Then, after all that, I'll get to watch some TV (TV is what I miss most about living in the car - its so hard to feel part of American culture when you are minus the TV). Food Network - I love watching it to come up with ideas for what I can cook next time I stay in a hostel with a kitchen. Since there are no hostels in this area open until the spring, I take notes in a notebook so I won't forget things. Living in this car, I have more notebooks than I know what to do with.

Daily Life et Autre Choses...

MY BRAND NEW HOUSEOWNING FRIEND, REBECCA, SAYS HOUSE CLEANING IS SO MUCH WORK!

I do remember how much work that was. But you know, my car was so CLEAN during the first year that I lived it in California. I gave it a vacuum cleaning every six weeks, I folded my blanket and sleeping bag neatly on the back seat, I organized my folders and books in front of passenger seat, I put towels on every seat when I went to the beach to keep my car sand-free…I was the world's most organized homeless person!!

But NOW, my poor car will never see those days again. It’s lucky if it gets a vacuum once a season. It always looks like a cyclone just hit it. The faster I empty stuff out, more stuff gets in. Nothing gets folded anymore. I must be perfecting my own style - not true bag-lady, but something more like homeless gourmet (the messy variety).

I’m no longer as concerned what people think about me…this must be part of it. Part of it is also the geographic/cultural shift – there were so many homeless people in California that people would walk by the cars of others and actually say shit like, “It looks like your homeless.” Here in Maryland, people don’t even think that way – they just assume you have a messy car, and that it’s none of their business. But part of it is that the novelty has worn off, and laziness chez moi au voiture is a wonderful thing.

Thoughts on the Baltimore Teaching Residency (and the DC Teaching Residency) Interviews

This is a mural outside BCPS (Baltimore City Public Schools) HQ.

I'm hoping to be selected for an interview on March 20 or March 21, just a few days after I get back from my interview in Atlanta. This would be a great way to get some recent experience other than substitute teaching and get the teaching certificate.

March 8, 2011 UPDATE

Re-did the 2011 application cycle after I was not selected for 2010. I was applying to teach high school chemistry. I was not selected, and I don't think it had anything to do with the interview or 5 minute lesson. I am a strong interviewer, essay writer, and teacher. Although no feedback is given to candidates who are not selected, I am fairly certain that the reason I was not selected is due to the fact that I defaulted on my student loans - this was directly related to job loss during the economic collapse in 2008. There is nothing I can do about this, and I will not be reapplying.

On average, only 5% of applicants are admitted to these competitive teaching programs. However, I was admitted to medical school several years ago (I did not graduate for personal reasons). In my honest opinion, the interview process for a teaching residency is nothing compared to the rigor of interviews for some of the medical schools I applied to, and the Praxis II subject exams and Praxis II Pedagogy are nothing compared to the MCAT or the first level of the medical boards.

Here are some impressions that will hopefully help other applicants:

1. These programs want applicants with an elite image. Substitute teaching is not considered glamorous or high-status, even though it is excellent experience if you do it frequently in a diverse environment. I felt pressure to play up my current "elite" part-time position and my Peace Corps teaching experience, and to downplay the fact that I substitute teach at all. Hypocrisy annoys me.

2. Both DC Teaching Residency and Baltimore Teaching Residency ask the same "litmus test" question: "What percentage of responsibility should a teacher be willing to accept for the success or failure of all of his or her students?" There is only one right answer - 100%.

It doesn't matter what your personal feeling is on this controversial issue. If you answer anything less than 100%, you will not be hired at either program. Many thoughtful teachers feel drawn to answering with some version of a 50/50 balance - the teacher who gives 100% effort in the classroom believes that the students should meet them halfway with 100% willingness to learn. These teachers are not hired. Hypocrisy really annoys me.

3. Don't undermine a polished five minute lesson with a short essay. When an applicant is handed three blank lined pages to write an essay, he or she is expected to answer with a complete essay that reaches the third page. Candidates are interviewed in groups of eight to ten people, and I saw applicants in my group writing one page essays. I wouldn't hire them. I doubt these residency programs did either.

Brrrr, It Was Cold Last Night....

Now, I've been living in my car for a while, so I'm used to the cold at this point, but last night was still kind of miserable. There is nothing better than snuggling up in a warm sleeping bag, with a coat on top, and I've got that. I've also got a car with heat that works, which is a wonderful thing when u wake up cold, and know its going to be that much harder to get back to sleep if you don't get warm. But I sprained my knee three weeks ago, and the cold is hard on my knee, which isn't healing as fast as I hoped.

When you live in a car in the winter, you have to think about the freezing point of common items. Not being a natural MacGyver, I didn't do this. This morning I went to do laundry, and the liquid detergent that was sitting in the trunk was congealed. It washed a load just fine, but left suds all over at the end of the cycle. Yuck! I should have thought to bring the detergent into the car last night, where the temperature is probably at least ten degrees warmer than the trunk, but I didn't.

The other thing about living in a car is that it is such a MESS. I used to have such a neatly organized house before losing the ability to pay rent. Now I just look at my car sometimes, and sigh. How am I ever going to find something small in here if I lose it, which happens every week? Every inch of space is full. The front dashboard is a "dryer" for things that should air dry - socks and a blouse are up there right now. The space below the front passenger seat has no less than a gallon water bottle, hair brush, shoes, boots, wipe-up bottle, laptop, laptop cords, inverter, books, day planner, folders for work, substitute teaching folder, knitting bag filled with a sweater that is almost finished, empty cooler, duffle bag with clothes, underwear, and socks...and this is just the space in front of the passenger seat.

Every night all the crap on the back seat migrates forward, so that I have a place to sleep. And every morning, at least half of it gets thrown on the back seat, so that I have a place to sit and drive. And no, I have yet to come up with a better system.

Nothing But Blue Sky From Now On...

This is one of my favorite photos that I took from the rear of the car looking inward last summer. There's that feeling of being on the road to somewhere nice with this picture. The floppy hat is from Target, and I use it as a honing device when I'm trying to pick out my gold Hyundai from every other gold Hyundai in a crowded lot. I got the little Mexican hat when I was down in Mexico three years ago, along with the Mexican blanket which has faded out considerably in the sun.



Here's another favorite that I took last summer. It was a sunning-my-butt-and-eating-green-apples-from-the-tree sort of day.

What Would Life Be Like

What would life be like
without malaria dreams
without the need to remember to burn coils in the dark corners,
What would it be like to leave the household water uncovered without a screen,
to sleep without a mosquito net, can anyone imagine that?

For the lucky, there are simple nets that veil the bed like a cascade,
tied from a single point overhead, and tucked under the mattress at night.
To get in and out of bed at night, one crawls under it, in and out –
air slows and stagnates inside it, with not the slightest hole for the tiniest mosquito, because
a net never really breathes.

For the wealthy, there are giant nets tied along the rafters that swath half a room,
a little world ensconced under a net, a laptop, a writing desk, a lamp, a computer,
a connection to the outside world,
accoucher, as the French say, meaning every possible thing that can be done in a bed,
and in Africa , under the mosquito veil.

For the poor, who have absolutely nothing between their bodies and the cement floor,
not even a prayer mat, there are cheap, unhemmed sheets wrapped tightly all over the body like death shrouds,
to keep the fever and euphoria of breaking fevers at bay,
the difference between a few bites each night and two hundred in a few hours
with certain fever nine days later – have you ever seen a whole group of children shrouded like this on the floor of a single, totally empty room?

Without malaria a million new children would grow to adults in Africa every year,
but life as we know it, life with malaria, would cease to exist.

***

I dug this poem out of my email archive yesterday. I wrote it years ago, just after leaving Guinea, where I was a teacher with Peace Corps. I'm not much of a poet - this may be the only poem I've written in the last decade that I can recall. But I like the way the poem conveys cynicism mixed with longing for a certain way of life. It's a very white, post-colonialist poem, and I know I must apologize for that. But at least it was honest.

Sweater Success

NEW SWEATER

The pink popcorn-stitch sweater with the picot edging turned out really nicely. The sleeves didn’t fit when I set them in, and the puckering really annoyed me, but it is so interesting the way the yarn actually conforms to the shape of your body in sweaters you knit yourself. I would swear this sweater fits better now than it did a few weeks ago when I had just finished it.

This is a nice shot of me wearing the finished sweater.

Knitting my first sweater felt like it took forever - almost ten months. By contrast, I expect my second sweater will only take around four months from start to finish.

A few months ago, this is what it looked like without sleeves. I ended up unraveling the first sleeve because it didn't fit.

So, greatly encouraged with the first flush of success on my grand knitting endeavor, I am now doing my second project – a navy blue, fitted sweater with hourglass shaping and a very simple honeycomb cable knit bodice. I’m using a beautiful, hand-dyed, honey gold yarn for the picot edging, and the contrast is striking. You’ll get to see it as soon as I scrape together my pennies for a new camera. It’s out of a book called “Big Girl Knits”, and the author said to knit it for a close fit without being ashamed, and described this pattern as a “sweater with good intentions”. I just loved that line.

The Big Girl Knits sweater will teach me to do short rows, which is an essential technique for creating shaping around a generous bust. Once I learn how to do this, the front of my sweater will actually hang at the same length as the back, something that didn’t happen on my first sweater because there was no bust allowance. There are no buttons or pockets on this sweater, so there goes two ample opportunities to screw up! I really have high hopes for this one.

COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT AN AWESOME KNITTING TEACHER
Kristy is the owner of Eleganza Yarns in Frederick, MD. Without her regular help, I would never have learned to knit as quickly and easily as I did.

Here's a photo of Kristy, her partner Paul, and me (taken on a "snow day" when I went to her shop to show off my new creation.)

snOMG 2010 and Other Things on my Mind

WELL, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, MY OLD BLOG WENT DOWN

It was linked to my astrology blog, and today I discovered that my astrology blog kept coming up every time I tried to edit the personal blog. So I have to start over, because I can't even import the old blog into the new one.

NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS, MY DIGITAL CAMERA IS BROKEN

This hasn't stopped me from taking pictures on it. There's simply no way to edit those photos or download them to the blog. It will be another month before I can buy a new digital camera.

THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAVE HAD A LOT OF SETBACKS, AND THE 2010 BLIZZARD WAS ONE OF THEM

Our lives came to a stop in the Washington, DC area. School was out for a week. Most substitute teachers didn't teach for two or more weeks, because teachers could not get authorized time off after the blizzard.

The snow was beautiful, so I am trying to forget how much money I lost because of it.

About a week after the blizzard, I had a chance to go out to Worthington Farm, my favorite park in Frederick, MD. Here's a view of the farm.

Scenes like this were a common sight in the DC area when I was a little girl, and this area was getting a lot more snow than it does now. It really brought back memories.

I walked for an hour out at Worthington Park, until my sprained knee started hurting and I knew I would have to stop. I fell and sprained my knee in early December, and although it has mostly healed, I still can't handle the uneven footing of loosely packed snow very well.