Belated New Year, cardboard art, weaving

Handsome Son visited Saturday, bringing shortbread and ginger ale for the New Year, adding to the tea and banana bread I provided. 

Since the first person over the threshold this year was a blonde woman, we missed the first footing. But HS,  the dark haired man arriving a bit late with food and drink, was close enough.

For people unfamiliar with first footing, it's a tradition in the North of England where I'm from.  It brings luck if the first person over the threshold in the New Year is a dark haired man bringing fuel, food and drink. 

Usually men would leave their houses before midnight, with the items - piece of coal, bottle of Scotch, slice of cake -- and chat in the street until they heard the ships' sirens and bells and, locally, pans beaten with spoons, sounding in the New Year. 

Then they'd be welcomed in with a glass of something good and a kiss from the lady of the house. Local legend has it that it had to be a dark haired man, not a Viking red -blond, this being the territory where Vikings raided. Not inviting one in!

We enjoyed our belated observance as a good start.

Speaking of cardboard as an art material, here's a wall piece I made from the insert in a Misfits grocery box 

And the weaving is progressing while I listen to A Pocketful of Rye.

This determined enjoyment and making is protest against the regime. 

Happy day everyone, make your protests heard by your MOCS.  

I got weaving

The main event on Friday was the weaving I set up.

I'm pleased about how this worked out. I used that piece of corrugated cardboard for a loom and realized a good way to set up the even warp threads was to insert skewers right through the channels in the cardboard. 

When I ran out of skewers I used small knitting needles. Then I warped up the loom. You'll see the warp threads run right over the back, too.  I wanted a seamless pocket for a potholder, so I set it up that way on the loom.

I used cotton warp thread, and wool handspun for the weft. It came out as 6 epi, ends per inch. That's the weaving equivalent of stitches per inch. 

As you see, I used a crochet hook to draw the weft through. After a while I switched to a size 4 Tunisian crochet hook,  which worked better.

Saturday Handsome Son is visiting to get tea and his share of banana bread. Out of one loaf I get a couple of slices. Mostly it's a shared thing with son and neighbors.

The reviews for it are pretty good so far.

Happy day everyone, get weaving, whatever that means in your life.

Sez Ted and Big Ursy 

 

Proof of delivery

New Year's Day I sliced up the banana bread and delivered to several neighbors to wish them a happy New Year.  

It was bitterly cold and windy with a skim of snow and I tried my footing to see if it t was slippery. Not as long as I proceeded with caution.

Mark my footsteps, good my page tread thou in them boldly. 

Happy neighbors, and one came over later with split pea soup, yay.  She says it's gone very thick which made me wonder if I could convert it into pease pudding, which I love. With the last of the ham. Hmm.

Making plans, meaning plans about making,  involve that nice piece of cardboard and small amounts of handspun yarn. And weaving a seamless pocket type potholder. 

Thereby using up handspun, upcycling the cardboard as a loom, and avoiding all the small burns I get on the back of my hand from the upper stove shelf. 

You see the openings at the edge. I may insert skewers to maintain an evenly spaced warp. I haven't measured but it's probably 6-8 epi. 

This will be fitted into online games and reading Griffiths, Delderfield, and listening to Boland. It's all go.

Happy day everyone, White rabbits and a happy New Year. And Freecycle, the gift that keeps on giving 

Notes from the past, weaving, walking, calendar and

 Since Marigold got in here, I found a picture, couldn't crop it any further without creating a blur, but here she is as the avatar on an old online account, pretty young here. And I added a picture of her on her last day, aged 16.

And a few images from the same account page, some of which you will recognize

It seems November is gone, and once again I forgot November 30th, St Andrew's Day, name day of Handsome Son. I texted him late with a greeting and it turned out he'd forgotten, too. As he said "Not very Scottish of me!"

December 1 is the first day of the online advent calendar I presented to myself this year and I had a bit of a  struggle to get it started, but got in. I did a bit of decorating in my cottage, tried to decorate the tree, and did a jigsaw puzzle, and was baffled by a couple of other games. My brain doesn't process game rules. So far so good.

Monday was in the 30s but sunny, so I walked, in my long winter windproof coat, and it was fine. I met the same dog and human twice 

Weaving is moving along and I think I'll do a color pattern in the second lanyard, just to try it. I had set up enough length of warp threads to fit two lanyards, without rewinding. Economy of effort.

Durham Weaver sums up this craft like this

It's very compact, especially when you think of weaving as a major commitment needing big tools and equipment. 

Sunday I made one-pan pasta, where you cook the pasta in the sauce, and I think I will do this from now on, so much easier to use one pan. The pasta cooked fine, too. 

I added capers, mushrooms and some final green beans from Thanksgiving along with paprika, Italian basil, ground flaxseed, onions and garlic to the usual diced tomatoes and tomato paste.

There's enough for several meals. I may try the tofu for the other meal each day. And I may make those peanut butter granola bars again for breakfasts. All set. 

I made crunchy tofu cubes with the lentil tofu. The texture is less resistant than real tofu, there's a nice flavor,  quite delicate, and it cut and cubed and baked a treat. 

I dipped the cubes in aqua faba instead of egg, then panko crumbs. I'm really pleased. Now I can make tofu from what's in the house, yay. I used a dipping sauce like the one I learned from Yeung Man Cooking. So I'd say go for it!

Happy day everyone, now watch this new month hurtle by. 

I've started the December challenge. Mainly by chance, really since I'd done a walk before I found it.

Gary came bursting in Monday afternoon, back days early from his trip. Family bereavement, his 90+ year old sister, and he's the one in charge of the paperwork and running about. 

She lived hours away, independent at home to the end,  with boxes of paperwork  now to sort and to go through. He's looking tired. It's so typical of his life that things would happen all at once, while he was out West.

Hearing update, Misfits and afternoon tea

The day started with a massive down pouring thunderstorm through which I had to drive, to the hearing test place. The test was interesting, various gadgets attached to my head and ears. The audiologist said my ear canals are too small for one of their tests which involved fitting a thing into the ear. So we went with headphones. 

Verdict: normal age related hearing loss, normal in the lower ranges, mild loss in mid range, marked to severe loss in the upper ranges, both ears the same. The upper range is where consonants are usually found, hence the difficulty with conversation.  She and the ENT both recommended I consider aids, though I could wait and recheck in a year. 

I'm going to get an hour with the audiologist in June to see about aids. I have a feeling that my tiny cute ear canals may eliminate otc, cheaper ones,  depending on how many sizes they cater to. We'll see. 

I've been weaving while thinking of all this

The Misfits box arrived, mercifully for the driver, the storm had moved on

The chard and naan will take part in an upcoming stew with carrots and sweet potatoes from last week, plus cannellini and red beans  already here.  

The cheddar will feature in a couple of tuna melts, tuna and whole grain bread  already here. Also the scallions I planted are growing 

so it's not a problem that misfits couldn't supply them this week, likewise Roma tomatoes, because I have diced toms here. I think pasta with a tomato sauce will happen soon.

The blueberries and gala apples continue to be good. Those apples are sweet, crisp and just right. Sold at a discount because they're too small for the stores. Yet just the right size if you have children, as every mom knows. 

And the pure cane golden sugar is a steady need.

Handsome Son is visiting today, so there will be one sausage roll I reserved for him, and apricot cake. 

That recipe makes a ton of cake. There's another container of pieces in the freezer when these are finished.

So long since we had a haggard hawks puzzle

Funny clues only! No shouting out the answer!

Handsome Son visited, approved sausage roll and cake, chatted, got updated on health, work and other things. 

Then before he left, he fixed the settings in my car so the tpms no longer alerts me to the fixed flat tire, my preferred radio station is back and the dash shows total mileage, not just trip mileage. Also it's all in English. This is several things I had tried to reset and hadn't managed.

Everyone should have a nice Handsome Son who lives nearby.

Happy day, everyone! Blink if you can hear me and want cake.

And if you thought life was exciting where you work 

White rabbits, pancakes, and soup

Yesterday, way back in March, white rabbits,  I  found a great recipe, which I adapted, of course, for chickpea flour pancakes and spicy vegetables. I learned that you need to have thought of this earlier, because you need an hour to get the batter to hydrate fully. 

Here it's broccoli stems, peeled, diced, with onions, garlic and Serrano peppers, hot sauce, lovely spicy mix with a contrast of the pancakes. 

See how the hydrated mixture bubbles nicely in the pan. Yessss.

you're suppose to enclose the veggies in the folded pancake, but I liked them separated like this. Dessert was yogurt and cane sugar, great follow on for spicy lunch.

Then, since no Easterly things are happening till Wednesday, I was free to make soup, first making the stock, and baking a butternut squash, ready to scoop and dice and add. Also carrots.

And plenty of chili powder, some salt, quite a bit of milk.

Here's spicy cream of carrot and butternut squash soup. It's one of the better soups I ever made, really good. And there are six more helpings to go. Slice of toast broken into it like easy croutons, so good.

I also wove while I listened to more Ken Follett, that book is going on and on. It's like a part time job. It's good, and I don't think I'll take in another very soon.

I'm liking how this is coming along. I have an actual real pinloom on order, thinking well, why not. Not an expensive plastic modern type, a vintage metal one. So it won't trigger more manufacturing, and will eventually be biodegradable. And other such rationalizing.  That's a strength ;)

Happy Easter if you celebrate, and Trans Visibility too which happens to coincide this year

Happy Easter, to those who celebrate. My own celebration will happen Wednesday when Handsome Son is free to come and make a dinner with me.

Here's my Easter display of my hand painted eggs, porcelain, cats, tiny cup and saucer with painted cockatiel eggs. Every year when I bring the tray down from its storage place, an egg gets broken. I've replaced the main part on the tray, so you won't notice. Spot the little wooden duckling!

 

Bottom left corner, little duckie by cast iron cat.

I hadn't intended this as a puzzle! But anyway running it by you again, after plaintive comments.

Meanwhile, the mourning doves did it again, made a sort of nest of grasses chucked around, on the ground, laid two eggs and abandoned the enterprise. Some predator, probably a bluejay, then attacked one egg.

Outside my daffodils are in full bloom everywhere, no idea why the pictured suddenly elongated like that.  Clowning around.

And at home I've been trying a pinloom idea, using whatever pins I could find, none available locally, to my surprise. The cardboard is the divider from the misfits box

 

and here's the result. I've put it here with the earlier weaving. Then I started another square with no particular object in mind, just the pleasure of weaving while I listened to pods and the current audio book

 Current ebook is this 

by an online friend, a headlong rush of a book, loads of fun, as is she

And a shoutout for Trans Visibility Day, which happens this year to fall on Easter, which seems like a hopeful omen.

Happy day everyone, enjoy whatever today is for you.