Bougie sweatshirts, and other marvels including curry leaf plants

 Yesterday's knitting group was a lovely big meeting, well, big for this group --  eight people. And here are a couple of marvels

Bougie sweatshirt is Serena's pattern, and there's all that's left of the yarn on the right there. I think there should be a Yarn Chicken Award for this.

and look at this amazing yarnover pattern, looping back and forward over the surface, Sandy at it again. She makes wonderful stitch patterning in solid colors.

Note that all knits I show are works in progress, not yet finished nor blocked. Even so, you can see the skills. There was an embroiderer there at work, too, but no pic, also other projects you've seen before. And my inevitable sock.

It's always a great discussion ranging this week from Long Covid to groundhogs, birth order, grandchildren, complete with latest pictures, book club choices, Misfits market, passports, Italy, underage children's id issues, public gardens in NJ. And more.

Speaking of gardens, following on Jeanie's comment about my new curry leaf plant, she mentioned her one-time curry plant which looked different, more like rosemary. So I checked and found this.

Here's her curry plant, I think 

And here's my curry leaf plant 

They're different, but both aromatic and good for flavor in cooking. 

And they're herbs, not spices. They're not related to curry powder, which is a mixture of ground spices, not herbs. 

I've been there a number of times with people who say oh, but I don't like curry when I talk about how good the curry leaf is for flavor. I don't know how the names came about but i don't use curry leaves in making curry!

Jeanie, thank you for raising an interesting little byway for me to wander down.

Then today the ever patient Dove Parent

Buried deeper and deeper, probably hoping the chicks will soon peep.

Coming back in to report on the home-made laundry detergent, which I used yesterday. It's great, cleaned very well and colors came up bright, clearly residue of earlier detergents had been removed, too. And I made a gallon, which will last ages, at one cup per load. So I can recommend it.

Happy day everyone, happy mother's day tomorrow, if it's celebrated where you are. Handsome Son is working, as usual on a Sunday, but I expect I'll hear from him.

Enjoy your day and remember you don't have to have your own human children to be a Mom! There's honorary Moms, too, to people and pets and wildlife. Here's Billy the Grandpup.

 

Textiles and Tea, jigsaw puzzle, and garden arrival

Yesterday's Textiles and Tea featured Scottish weaver Cally Booker and her joyful approach to weaving patterns. There were technical hitches, she being in Aberdeen and the signal sometimes breaking down, but here's the slides we saw

This is two views of the River Tay, one its silvery water, the other a view from the Tay Bridge coming across to the city, with sunset reflections.

Here's a five year daily study on Arctic ice melting, the melt being the blue area, the rest the ice, taken from scientific reporting of the measurements. Left the piece, right a detail.

 

This work, a scarf, describes her local shoreline at the mouth of the River Tay.

She's a narrative weaver.

This is a collaborative work created with a Canadian architect, about identity.

And here's double huck, which I don't know anything about except she loves it.

And yesterday I went to the local library, to donate that jigsaw puzzle about canned vegetables, which they were happy to receive. 

While there I looked at the collection and see Rose's donations in the lineup. They're often out, so I'd say that's a good destination for them.

And, seems I can't get away from yarn, here's my borrowed current puzzle

Neighbor Aditha came to see the dove on the nest very cautiously, 

and give me a curry leaf plant

I love cooking with curry leaves, anywhere you might use a bay leaf. It's a deep lovely flavor. Indian vegetarian cooks like to use for rich flavor, and they're right.

Great discussion group this afternoon, mostly to the right of me, but it's kept impersonal, so it's quite enlightening. 

The men don't interrupt, quite a novelty  in my experience. We had a substitute moderator, who did okay, though not as prepared as the regular one.

The Haggard Hawks puzzle answer is:

OYSTER

which I think quite a few people not only got, but created great clues about, thank you. 

Happy day everyone, speak up, you're entitled. Don't be a clam!

White rabbits, happy St Brigid, Happy New Lunar Year

 A lot going on today. Let's go.

Here's my calendar on the new month. Singing and dancing, song writing.

I missed out on this because my first words were hello, Doctor, as my lovely doc called me personally at 7am to postpone today's appointment on account of the building having a water main break during the night. 

Two hours later the practice management called, same message.

Gladstone and Larry are the Twitter accounts of real cats, adopted from the Battersea dogs and cats home, to work on the endless mouse problems at the various buildings on Downing street, including the currently infamous Number Ten. They're much more popular than their human occupants right now.

And Emmy is a fearless campaigner to restore some kind of  order to her country under siege from the fallout of Brexit.

Best wishes on all this from your blogwriter, an Earth Tiger. For St Brigid, I defer to SheWhoSeeks' blogpost tomorrow.

Just an afterword about the curry leaf plant. Native to Asia, it grows as a tree. So I live in hope that my little  specimen will continue to flourish.

Here's more than you wanted to know

Hard to believe it's the start of spring, but the days are lengthening, the sun is lighting a different part of the living room.

And here's a van Gogh to help the mood

Meanwhile it's still feeling like winter, temps this morning in single digits f., so soup is on the menu. Potato, cauliflower today, cream of home made vegetable stock.

Happy everything from the cosy place Chez Boud.