storming

I got the nicest compliment yesterday. We were making chicken “tandoori” from a mix, and to add verisimilitude to an otherwise unconvincing narrative I picked up some papadum and naan from the Indian restaurant around the corner. (Actually, the chicken turned out quite tasty and with at least a strong family resemblance to real tandoori, though of course there’s still the question as to whether it’s worth the effort when there are two perfectly good Indian restaurants within two blocks of us.) They brought over the food, I paid, and the guy laboriously counted out my change and handed it to me. All this was in English, but I thanked him for the change in Dutch. He did a doubletake, and asked nervously, “I was speaking English, wasn’t I?” I said, “Yes, I just thanked you in Dutch – that’s about as far as my Dutch goes.” He said, “But you had no accent!” I thanked him and told him it was the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day. I think what must have happened is that English and Dutch are both second (third) languages for him, and he just answers in whatever is spoken to him. So when we were cruising along in English and then I answered in Dutch, he was afraid either he’d answered in the wrong language or he was losing track of what he was speaking. I don’t think I said anything more than “dankuvel”, though – it’s not hard to speak one word (or three, depending how you look at it) without accent!

(Slightly later: lest I get too proud, today in the cafeteria there was a Japanese salad with skewers of white meat on top. I couldn’t tell if it were chicken or pork, so I asked, “Is dit kip?” The man behind the counter promptly said, “This is chicken!”)

There’s a storm outside that’s a bit different from the gentle rain we get almost every day; there was more water on the road this morning than I’ve seen before and apparently part of the A2 from Utrecht to Amsterdam was shut down because of high water. I think it’s put me in a nesting mood, which for me means knitting, books, popcorn and tea. We have Dutch class tonight so no free time for me today, but I do get 2 out of 4 of the above: tea and knitting. There are tea and coffee available everywhere here – even the bank offered us coffee when we were setting up our accounts, the travel agents gave us tea when we booked out cruise,once when I had an errand at the Post Office they handed me a packet of a cappuccino mixture. When I asked the language instructors if they’d mind me knitting during class, I cited the teaching training I got that says many people learn better when their hands are busy. I’m not certain whether that’s true for me, but I can certainly knit and answer questions correctly at the same time. It’s had an unexpected benefit, though; Rudder typically needs things repeated more times than I do, and I don’t get impatient if I have something else to do.

I am getting itchy to start knitting something different, though. With luck I’ll finish Rudder’s gloves this weekend (just in time for the snow someone told me we’re getting next week – though looking at predicted temperatures it’s likely to be no more than flurries). I have two things started, a lace shawl and a Trellis scarf. I’d like to make a pair of fingerless gloves for myself (maybe these) for the office, but I don’t know if I have materials for it. I know I have two balls of gray wool DK that would work if I adjust the gauge, but I’d been thinking of using them for socks for one of the grandfathers-in-law. I’m more in a sweater-making mood thanks to the weather, but the only yarn I have enough of for that is cotton. The wool yarn I have is enough for felted bags, not enough for sweaters. (Too bad I can’t combine the Noro from my mom with the Cascade Tweed from Rudder’s mom, but I don’t think the colors would work together.) Also, I need one project to be mindless enough for car and class knitting – the logical thing is to do the shawl or scarf at home and start socks or something in the car. I don’t seem to have enough uninterrupted time at home for that to work, though then again not checking my email every five minutes would probably help with that. And with reading more. Part of my current problem feels like lack of time management more than sheer lack of time, though the latter is definitely a factor. Tomorrow is my day off from working out, but I think Rudder is planning to lift weights. Maybe what I’ll do is wake up with him and just hang out in bed and knit and read. However, anything beginning with “maybe” whose alternative involves sleeping later usually has a slim chance at best.