Perspective reminders everywhere

 A leaf fell off the fiddle leaf fig, beautiful even as it dries.

And further away

Have you ever seen this art form? I blogged about it quite a while ago.

Current reading is this account of the friendship of Mary McLeod Bethune  and Eleanor Roosevelt, and I'm learning about Southern Democrats and their repression of the black vote and  support of Jim Crow laws. 

It's a good insight in an election year, with the parties now so different. Bethune started out a staunch Republican, but things changed for her after Hoover and Roosevelt.

 And here's yesterday's simple salmon and steamed  spinach

   there's more salmon for a couple of meals.

And it's March, kite days

Meanwhile, though I don't usually recount dreams, and don't set much store by analyzing them, I did have a totally entertaining one I was sorry to wake up from.

It was a group of men, tap dancing. On ice. On skates. In the middle of a  gallery of their paintings. What skills!  What versatility!  Best dream fun I've had in years.

Happy day,  everyone, especially those of us dealing with the pesky time change which is only an hour but throws many of us into a tizz for days.

Eat like a bear, and sock mending

At this rate these hand knit socks will be more darn than sock. But they're getting more interesting, so there's that.

And yesterday I did some very simple cooking. Salmon tails panfried in avocado oil and butter, peas,  little yellow potatoes microwaved and mashed.

Three meals, with lemon juice added to the pan, swirled around to pick up the oils in a brown butter, then drizzled over the cooked fish.

Then dessert, berries with raw honey.

At this point, salmon, berries, honey, I realized I was on the Eat Like a Bear Diet. Which may explain why I fancy hibernating until March.

I've been listening to this on audio book, a whiny reader, sounds like "I'm telling on you to the teacher" type, but I tolerated it till I got the Kindle version, switched, gladly returned the audio, and realized on reading further: this is another book about plagiarizing! 

Another book about a writing  teacher whose own novels are drying up, using the work of a now dead student, just the plot,  but writing the novel itself. 

Isn't this very much like the much newer Yellowface, except there it's a fellow writer and an entire nonfiction manuscript? Are we seeing books about plagiarism plagiarizing each other? Is this a literary version of the recursive image? Answer came there none.

Happy day, everyone, try to think your own thinks!

Has anyone got the puzzle yet, or have I been missing subtle clues?

Slo-mo Sunday

 This jigsaw puzzle is the slowest ever. So many identical flowers, pieces that could go anywhere. 

Everyone's a philosopher, even the puzzle people at Springbok, which, despite the name, proudly proclaims it's all USA all the time.

Great jolt of joy when you fit a piece in or a little group with its friends. Periods of total sense of incompetence between jolts.

Gloves and socks are continuing. Spinning continuing. Energy about 6 on a scale of 10. 

But I did a good lunch, beautiful as well as good food 

Salmon seared in hot barely oiled pan, skin side up first, then turned over, finally lid on pan, off heat, to finish.

Golden jasmine rice, with turmeric, old Bay, salmon with salt, pepper, lemon juice. Raw kale. 

Total time elapsed about 23 minutes. 

This is why I bother cooking: colors keep my old person's small appetite up, good eating keeps my reduced energy up. Also I'm worth it! This is three meals for moi. 

Misfits seems to be having a run of supply issues. Yesterday I signed on within one minute of the order open window, and: no flour, Fuji nor gala apples, dried apricots, baking cocoa, pita bread, favorite yogurt. Half my list not available.

And when they confirm my order on Wednesday I expect they'll sadly inform me that other items will once again be unavailable. Not blaming them. I think worldwide unrest, failed harvests, shipping issues, are probably behind it. 

But I have to be pretty inventive to work around the gaps, however, I can't really say I'm hurting when I sit down to a lunch like the above.

I read a feature today proclaiming today,  Superbowl Sunday,  as the event that unites the USA.  The ones who know it's on, that is. And who's playing. And where.

 I literally know one person who cares, and he went solo to wherever it's happening. Not so sure about this uniting.

For people who either instantly got the puzzle or fear they will never get the puzzle, it's

CHAFFINCH!

This cracks me up because I was assigned to the Chaffinch Patrol in my Girl Guides (Scouts) years. But everyone knew the cool girls with all the badges were in the Swallows. 

You'd think, as Mary would say, I'd be over it by now, heh.  I am. I totally am. So take that, Jean McWilliams!

Happy evening,  everyone!  Enjoy your grudges while you've got them!

A day of one thing leading to another

Yesterday was about not getting. I went off to the farm for Roma plum tomatoes to make tomato lemon Amish jam. Amazingly, they were out of Romas. Usually a prime crop, and advertised in their current newsletter. 

I was there early, maybe they were still picking. I can try again but will probably buy for the freezer for winter spaghetti sauce.

But I still had in mind jars sterilizing in boiling water and some interesting fruit stuff boiling away in the other pot.

So peaches, not up to eating fresh, pinch of sumac, bit of cane sugar, dash of vanilla, cooked down and blended,  became some sort of butter or sauce or something.

And, one recipe of  pancake batter later, a nice supper, and planned Sunday morning breakfast.

Then later I went walking in the lovely, not too hot sunshine, in search of early possible fallen oak galls for ink. There's a spot close to home where acorns fall in masses.

But the whole woodland edge had evidently been cut back and cleared, as if vacuumed up.  Clean as a whistle. Even the brambles I was hoping to pick were cleared out. Just too tidy. This cleanup must have happened while I was busy last week. Well, I still hope for oak galls as the season goes on.

Back home I noticed the snake plant had a large broken leaf. So instead of tossing it, I thought I could see if it would make good cord.

So I split it and it's drying now. This is one to be a bit careful with, since the sap can irritate mucous membranes if it gets near your mouth or eyes. I washed my hands after this.  This is an interesting plant to propagate. This one I grew from a plant I took care of one summer for a neighbor. It went to camp on my porch, and I took one leaf as a fee.

You can propagate by cutting sections of the leaf and just sticking them in earth. Every part of this current plant grew from that method. 

But here's the cool part -- the plant knows up from down, and you have to plant each leaf section the same way up as it grew, or it won't root. So even plants have a better sense of direction than I have. Sad for me, really.

And last noontime, while my salmon and roast fries were cooking, aka fish 'n chips, here with capers and fresh picked thyme 

I set up a new accordion book display of a series of botanicals, very seasonal.

Right after lunch, Gary came dashing in, he was about to grill, could he make me a hamburger?  On realizing I was clearing up after lunch,  he said oh man, timing's out!

I did a bit of Sally Pointer study later,  reminded of her by the oak gall search and because I'd tried something like this as a kid, always fancied handmaking my own shoes.

Hers are pretty authentic though, style dating back 5,000 years.

She cuts and stitches as shown, then wets them through, eases them on for a good fit, and lets them dry on her feet. Custom fit.

I was pretty young when I made mine, no pattern or leather tools, just an urge.

Somewhere I got a scrap of pink soft leather I was able to cut with scissors and stitch with a darner, and made a pair of sandals with a strap. I cut soles, then stitched the upper on, added a Mary Jane type strap to keep them on. 

I remember they were very thin underfoot, not real suited to the sidewalks, no fields at that point in my life. These soft shoes do better on grass and earth. But I was so pleased about trying anyway, despite side-looks from older sibs, now what does she think she's doing.

I fact I wonder now if I can get a soft leather or suede bag or jacket from the thriftie to try for fall house slippers. I'm putting that on the list. I don't have a leather punch but I have a big nail I use for punching book pages, and a hammer. I'm ready.

I also ordered a fleece remnant in charcoal grey from Firecracker Fabrics,  to make  pants for cold weather, thinking ahead here.

And because what is life if you can't be amused by silly stuff , here's the Dance of the Dish Brushes

One day I really must think about growing up. No rush though.

Happy day everyone! Laugh at silly stuff, it's good for you.

Fenced in, fish, powerhouse soup and mystery wildflowers

Today contractor friend Mike comes to see what's what with the fence. The uprights were put in exactly where the old posts had been, but they're bigger and take up more surface. He'll have to cut the walkway a bit to fit it in again. And cut and move the supports under the deck to secure the walkway, because the gate's a good 18" over from the old gate.  He designed the deck so I expect he'll know how to proceed.

Not that I'm anxious to sit out yet, temps in the fifties and a brisk wind. 

Yesterday I made stock and a powerhouse green soup with macaroni. Broccoli, spinach and scallions. You've seen this before, so no pix. Very welcome on cold spring days.  

And I broke out the salmon, and proved again that good ingredients need very little help from the cook. 

Just salt, pepper, fresh thyme, baked, that's it. With a green salad, very cheering spring lunch. With enough left for today, too.

The jaw pain is easing up a bit, after I've been trying not to clench. Bet dollars to donuts it will be resolved before I see the doctor.  

She gets this patient, unintended pun,  look when I tell her about awful symptoms that have all gone away now! I'm betting she's seeing a lot of anxiety symptoms of all kinds these days. 

Before I leave Twitter to sort itself out, after my morning rounds of storytellers, historians, artists and other cheering people, let me tell you a recent dialogue with an older lady on another website.

She brags about having no smartphone, though she's on the computer daily checking in to interactive websites. On  the subject of Twitter she claimed "I can't tweet, I don't have a smartphone".  

Someone else tried to explain tweeting was exactly like what she was currently doing, only with fewer characters. But she insisted. 

We finally realized she had it confused with texting. Evidently thought the whole site was about texting. Oh. Can't imagine how that could work.  But I wonder how often people form positions based on a faulty grasp of the facts. I expect I do too.

Speaking of which, is this a bed of henbit?

It has different colored leaves from the henbit growing at my door.  But I'm open to suggestions.

Putin has now cut off Russian natural gas supplies to a couple of neighboring countries, further uniting Europe and strengthening support for Ukraine.  I wouldn't say he's much of a tactician. More like a human blunt instrument.

Happy day everyone, at least as happy as you can manage. Some of us are struggling, I know.