I now doubt the gloves will be finished this week. Every time I predict here I'll have a project finished something comes along and takes my attention away. This weekend isn't looking so good either as it is all about peaches. Not the brown-eyed rabbit Peaches but canning 10 lbs of peaches. This is probably just a start - I could do about 50 lbs of peaches and we'd eat them all. Home-canned peaches in a light syrup are far superior to the stuff at the store.

Today has been one of those magical days where everything I try in the kitchen turns out well. First I made this delicious Marinated Zucchini. It is a Mario Batali recipe and not low in fat but I love zucchini in all its incarnations. I do think the amount of salt called for in the recipe (2 Tbsp.) is an error.

Then I made this Andrew Weil recipe for Corn, Tomato, and Basil Soup. I was originally thinking I'd have to add some rice or pasta to it to make it heartier but it is plenty hearty all by itself. It is definitely a keeper.

DH just emailed me that he bought me a bread machine (What a guy!) so I'll be making some bread to go with the soup very soon. I used to have an expensive Zojirushi bread machine. It was so huge and my old kitchen was tiny so I donated it to a local wildlife group. Now I have a large kitchen and an oven on the fritz so this is a good thing.

Peaches is very busy this weekend - she plans to make a large mess with her hay, share some wheat grass with her favorite cat Jack, and make a lot of noise in the middle of the night ripping up cardboard.

I like these gloves a lot more with the blue fingers. See the original colors and pattern in a PDF file HERE. I may still run out of the medium or dark blue colors but if not I'll have the pair finished this week. These are going to go to a girlfriend who is making me a lovely quilt. Today I started sorting all my finished knitted items into three boxes for Christmas gifts and I'd say I'm about halfway done. DH has also requested a boring plain dark gray vest for Christmas so I'll get started on that in between the more fun projects.

Here are the Latvian socks from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I'm too lazy to block them. I used size 0 dpns and Knitpicks Essentials sock yarn and I like this yarn quite a bit. It isn't as elastic as I'd prefer but I love the price and will use it again and again.

Stranded Color Knitting is reviewed in the current issue of Knitty.

I'm trying not to start a new project when I have two to finish but the Chulo hat from Andean Folk Knits is calling to me. I have to decide whether to try to get her horrifyingly tight gauge with worsted weight or do it in sport weight. I'm a tight knitter and can generally get Marcia Lewandowski's gauge if I use thinner yarn. I'll have to check my color choices but I like the greens and gray in the original.

I've been eagerly searching for rabbit rescue news from Louisiana and Mississippi. In a Humane Society of the United States press release from yesterday they said they have 250 people on the ground in both states who have rescued a total of 1200 animals "including dogs, cats, cows, ferrets, horses, chinchillas, as well as a rabbit, duck, pot-bellied pig, and seal." So at least one lucky rabbit made it.

In other news, the Louisiana State University Veterinary Medicine Department has rescued 90 horses and mules from New Orleans. There are still 300 left in the city from the companies offering carriage rides to tourists. To help the horses, check their web site.

On the lighter side, this photo just cracks me up. One of the local animal people sent me some wacky photos.

Edit: I was told the larger font made the blog hard to read so we're back to normal.

KNITTING

I'm still working on the Latvian socks. I hope to have them finished by late tomorrow. Then it is back to work on another Christmas present, the Fair Isle gloves. Please go see Julia's beautiful version of these gloves - the colors she is using are so much nicer.

HELPING

Check with your local food bank. Many of them are collecting food to send to evacuees. Also, if you donate money, look into places that are matching donations to make your money go farther. One such place is my local health food store, Vitamin Cottage.

The Give A Little blog was started by knitbloggers extraordinaire Margene and Susan to raise donations for the Red Cross. There are many other terrific prizes for those who donate, including a copy of Stranded Color Knitting.

June of Two Sheep Journal is selling off some of her incredibly beautiful handspun yarn - all money from the sales to Mercy Corps.

A knitblogger in Houston is collecting handknit baby items to give to evacuees.

Donate your miles via email through Delta, Continental, or United Airlines.

Here in Albuquerque we're seeing some heartwarming stories of people helping the evacuees that have come here. A group of beauticians got together to do the hair and makeup of hurricane victims and others got the red carpet treatment and a standing ovation at a UNM Lobos game.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife are providing housing in Boston for a year for a large family of hurricane evacuees. As it turned out, the father of the family was a baseball fan and was flabbergasted when Curt met him at the hotel.

You may have seen some of the sad stories of animals in the hurricane on the news. Snowball the little dog who was left behind by a hysterical boy and kept trying to get on the evacuation bus may have been found - now they need to find the boy in the Astrodome. Other stories such as Chucky the dog left at the interstate with a can of dog food and a note, the man with 3 dogs who swam with them for 8 hours straight because he couldn't leave them, and the doctor who stayed behind at the hospital and wouldn't evacuate because he was caring for all the staff pets may all have happy endings. Check the ASPCA web site daily for updates on these stories and donate to help make more happy endings for victims of this tragedy.

CELEBRATING

Peaches celebrated her 3rd birthday this weekend with a dried banana treat and much singing. I'm not positive about her birthday but it was some time in fall so I chose Labor Day. I've always felt that Peaches managed to find the perfect house for her to blossom. She used to be more of a wallflower with the rabbit rescuer who felt bad she wasn't getting more attention. Now she is always the center of attention and she loves finally having her own house. Happy Birthday Bunny Diva!

The first 90 hurricane Katrina evacuees have arrived here in Albuquerque. They are staying at the convention center in downtown and were met by applause and our mayor Marty Chavez. The children were given stuffed animals and so far 150 offers of housing by local private citizens have been received. Most of the evacuees have swollen feet from standing in water so long.

Our governor has declared a state of emergency and released 1 million dollars for the victims. We are expecting about 6000 victims throughout the state. NM just sent 300 National Guardsmen and 21 state policemen to the Gulf as well. The local National Guard spokeswoman/major interviewed for the story is one of our NM rabbit rescuers as well.

Roadrunner Food Bank is collecting food to send to the Gulf Coast and I'm going to assume the evacuees are going to need clothing so I'm off to clean out the pantry and closet.