My roots are showing

Around now it's birthdays and feast days, my aunt Kitty, Shakespeare, St George, patron saint of England. So

Yesterday's Misfits arrived early and welcome. 

Prices are up enough that the minimum order is now a weekly, not biweekly event. And some common items are either not available, like yellow onions, or might as well be, like apples, at those prices. Nonetheless we eat okay around here. Thankfully.

The Friday evening salad includes some garlic scapes from the garlic you saw me plant. All the sections are growing, and it's pungent and lovely.  Dressed with a few crumbs of blue cheese. Dessert was blueberries and walnuts, a sprinkle of cane sugar.

Current cookbook to see if there's anything I fancy in here

Often cookbooks have only one or two recipes that interest me,  but good general ideas. I like her fearless slinging together spices and changing old traditional recipes. 

I think I'll try her savory Welsh cakes, and definitely veggie pancakes.  Simple ideas, and the kind you wonder why you didn't think of them yourself. 

Speaking of which, I thought of this in the middle of the night: using some of the sari silk I showed you when I got the cut price sari for the fabric, to line the denim vest. A statement!

It took a few minutes to locate the silk because I was so used to seeing it as a portiere, that I'd forgotten it was meant to be fabric. Duh.  There's still yards hanging in the doorway, saris being very long.

And I'm lining the pockets, too, bespoke touch.

The fence is complete, I put the bird feeder up and just now here's a female red bellied woodpecker breakfasting, yay. 

That cheered me up no end. If the birds can handle it, I can.

Here's one of the latest paintings from  Dave Flitcroft's studio, selling as a benefit for Ukraine.

I love his loose flowing style. He's painted a series of sunflower studies, all fresh and different.

Happy day everyone!

Trees and saris

 Today the mystery plant is twice as tall as the last pic you saw, 

Has started unfurling five part compound leaves. 

So it may be ash, hickory or black walnut, unless you have a better idea. In any case it will probably be about fifty feet tall when it's done.  Most likely a squirrel donation. All local trees.

And remember the doctor's appointment postponed from September 2 to late December in account of Ida? One hitch is the follow up mammogram to the scare I had in the spring. It's not over yet. 

Anyway how to get it done on time.. so I called the doctor's office. No chance of an appointment before January, better stick with December after all. But star nurse Christine said, nah, this is easy, when she got back about fifteen minutes later, a landspeed record, I already faxed over a script, just call them and set it up. Which I did, and they did, for October, bang on schedule. Middle management gets it done.

Breathing happily, I promptly had a good idea. While the sari is waiting its turn to be made into clothes, why not let it hang, to air out and lose the packing creases. In a doorway.

I replaced the tired handweave which will get a turn in the dryer to dedust it.

New portiere. And you see how much fabric this is. I knotted it up at the back so the front would just brush the floor.  You can see the drape. Perfect for a skirt, among other things. 

I'm going to be that old lady who always wears green silk..so much fabric. Or that woman who cuts up portieres to make dresses, like that woman and the curtains in the movie.

Here's the pair, wedding sari left, new sari right. Approved by antique dolls in their shared rocker.

Once again my stuff is multitasking.

Sari, soup,and late breaking Misfits

About the chimney people. No, it's not done with. That's only stage one, getting the certificate.  They're licensed contractors and have the power to fuss. 

One time the previous chimneys folk, now retired, refused a certificate for the fireplace on the grounds that two floor tiles on the hearth, just set down there as plant stands for the summer, broke safety code!  I had left Handsome Son in charge that time, thinking it was a simple visit, he could handle it. 

They insisted on a second visit, with me present, to show compliance. By lifting the tiles six inches over, onto the rug! So I've been burned, if you follow me!

But now the HOA also have to accept the certificate. A whole separate issue. And that's the one I'm nervous about.  It's all about safety. But I'm all for safety, and what I'm doing is safe.  But we'll see. They too have been known to throw their weight around. Not exhaling yet.

Meanwhile, good things arrived yesterday. That sari I ordered from India, as affordable fabric, came. They chose what to send,  color and condition up to  them,  condition of sale. And I got so lucky. Look

Lovely figured green, black border, perfect condition. A whole sari, quite a few yards. And a bonus purse, with Gujarati embroidery. Which I'm using right away, just right for phone, keys, small wallet. 

This is plenty of fabric for pants, tops, just need to decide. Happy sewing lady here.

And the weather's cooler so the cooked rice and tomato bits in the freezer from the tomato jam, are now a very nice tomato rice soup.

I needed room in the freezer anyway, for the late arrival of the Misfits box, holiday delay.

Whenever I get a cauliflower I think of Mary Moon! You never know what reminds people of you. It's on account of the life changing recipe for roasted cauliflower.

Then the usual total boredom of prepping, which I talk myself through with the aid of audiobooks and reminding myself this is how I get to eat well at a good price. I do love the results if not the process. 

I prepped always, even before I found Misfits,  because I like cooking not prepping, so I appreciate ready chopped vegetables and washed fruit and scrubbed potatoes. So there's that. Otherwise I wouldn't eat half so interestingly.

Last night's Misfits salad supper

Romaine lettuce, rainbow carrots, scallions, blueberries, raspberries, drawing of mayonnaise. This was really interesting to eat, a different set of flavors in each mouthful. Scallions and raspberries are surprisingly compatible.

Speaking of which, I watched a taste testing yesterday on YouTube of the America's test kitchen people. I like these and learn a lot, Jack Bishop being very knowledgeable and their lab onto the detail. 

This one was supposedly about supermarket cinnamon. But only one of the samples was true cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon. 

The others were all actually cassia, a different plant, much cheaper and harsher and much less healthy than the real thing, but sold in supermarkets in the US as cinnamon to shoppers who don't know. And who might not like the cost of the real thing.

They referred to it this fact only in  passing, and the tester cook even said during the blind tasting oh this one is like cardamom, don't like it. That was the real one, as it turned out, when they revealed it. 

Tastes differ, but I think if you prefer cassia it's okay to say so, not insist it's cinnamon which it isn't. Ceylon is much more delicate in flavor, and expensive, but I've never gone back since I found it. Not that I'm at all passionate about truth in labeling or anything!

Usually they're excellent, though, and I learn quite a bit.

After all this, I finally got to the beaded figure's beaded knitting. I had spun the yarn, a nice silky blend, lace weight in sparkly black. I do the crochet hook method of hitching the beads onto the yarn. Pictures not too good, best I could manage 

The idea is to slip the bead onto the hook, then hook the stitch then draw it through the bead, then return the stitch to the needle and knit it. It's permanently attached. And this way you just bead at will, no need to thread the beads onto the yarn ahead of time and plan and manage them as you go. It needs a tiny hook, the kind people use for the finest thread.

This is the start of a beaded knitted top for the figure. The glass beads I started with don't show in pictures, but the next ones, pearls and solid colors, will 

There's a knitting group today and I actually have work to bring, instead of just chatting. I'm also being reunited with the stash where I donated a lot of novelty buttons a while back. I'm going to check whether anything might work for Magpie. If so, they'll be on their way.

So that's us, controversies all round, with art getting in anyway. Good Day, everyone!