Misfits and dyed cotton

I took the cotton out of the dye bath this morning, figuring 24 hours was going to be as much take up as it would get. 

As you see, pink with some areas whitish, but good enough. Now it's drying and I'll check around for what to use for the basket structure. I have a couple of ideas.

I tried these grasses but decided they were too wild for the cotton, so they've got their own place now 

And I'll continue looking and thinking. 

Misfits is delayed by weather, hence Friday not Thursday. 

But I have food in the house to deal with delays.

And Ronald showed up as scheduled, and seized the opportunity of an open parking slot all shoveled out, to stage his van and make the next few deliveries easier.  Mostly he's stuck out in the street, no open spots. I noticed he was keeping the bananas with him in the cab, not freezing in the loading area, so that's appreciated in this zero f weather.

Missing in action were yogurt and strawberries, which they'd notified me about, and one loaf which they hadn't.  I'll live.

Canned goods for the food pantry, green beans because it's a long time since I had any, broccoli because it's the other green I like, a change from spinach, grated cheese because no block Cheddar available, I don't like the additive that stops it clumping, but once won't hurt. 

Scallions for an interesting thing I plan with the tofu and ginger, diced tomatoes with no salt, shared with the food pantry, blackberries as a change from blueberries, apples for daily mid morning snack. 

Shrimp, it's a long time again, and I may make mayo, long time there, too, to go with shrimp. My best shrimp salad is just shrimp and homemade mayo, with buttered whole wheat. I don't get carried away!

So that's the food today, despite missing items, still a nice selection for the week and more.

About my recent slump. I realize now since I looked at the calendar, that it was the anniversary of my favorite brother's death in combat, age 20. 

I was six, so long ago, but my parents never recovered, and even the return of my other two brothers from combat didn't make a big difference. I think your body remembers trauma, maybe forever. That day past, my energy is better.

Happy day everyone, hoping and working for better days for us all. 

Dyeing update and Misfits delay

Wednesday was dyeing day. I rewound the cotton yarn to loosen it up, and checked my favorite plant dyeing book 

I needed to see if red onion skins need a mordant, no, then I simmered the skins for an hour to release the color 

Here's the yarn starting to take up color 

To keep the yarn underwater I put a mortar on top of it, heavy enough.

I'll leave the yarn in the dye at least 24 hours to get as much takeup as I can. Meanwhile I have to figure out what materials I'll use for the basket, preferably natural but we'll see.

I've labeled the seeds and stored them till planting time in the house in late March. Turns out the fiber on them doesn't affect germination, just as well since I can't get it off.

Meanwhile here's the chili and cornbread my neighbor brought over, while checking how I'm doing.   

It's mild and very good, quite a change from the fire alarm variety I use. So long since I had c and c, it was great. This is the artist contractor who's going to fix my bathroom. He's a man of many talents.

And Misfits has to postpone delivery till Friday because the storm has disrupted the food supply and transportation. So, no problem, there's food in the house.

And in case anyone is still using FB, here's what Z is up to. Censorship.

I'm currently reading the latest Osman, 

It's as entertaining as ever, same characters bit older, there's been a death and a marriage, and they're undaunted.

This week what with the news, the storm, the severe cold and the car issues, Gary scaring me (he's fine now), I've been struggling a bit. 

Most of my energy is going to resistance messaging and writing, rather than blogging. Bear with me, some questions are answered in the next blog post after you ask, some I don't have quite enough bandwidth for right now. But I do read and appreciate them all, thank you.

Happy day everyone, art will save us all. Now more than ever.

Roving going a-roving, Misfits and Mutts

After getting back into a bit of spinning I realized that's what's left of my roving is either better for needlefelting or is in colors I don't like. So I put this up on Freecycle 

and got a taker within about five minutes. 

Ed note: I noticed later it had gone much earlier than arranged and hoped the right person picked it up. 

Then this afternoon my neighbor contractor friend came over with it. He'd found it across the street under his car, probably blown there, a bit too light to stay in the step. He tied it to the outside door for me the contents fine, the bag a bit battered. 

He was going to toss it thinking it was his own garbage until he saw the word Freecycle, assumed that was me, and it's back now. Fortunately the taker hadn't been and gone and wondered about what I was up to. She messaged to say she was on her way. Phew! So that roving definitely went roving.

Since today is much milder, I seized the day to take out garbage and recycle before the expected return of cold and a large snowstorm, and picked up the mail. 

Then I got a short walk, as you see 

Many kids out playing yesterday even in frigid cold.

It feels better even to get out briefly, before we get a return of severe cold and many inches of snow. They say.

It's Misfits day

This is a much better day for delivery man Haleem.

Small order this week, chocolate chips for baking upcoming cake or bread, one bag for the freezer, black beans, free with points, Mary made me do it, Bananaz, so good to have them again, usual daily Gala small apples, multicolored carrots to parsteam ready for roasting or something. I think I made up parsteam. But we say parboil, so there.

 Blueberries and yogurt to go together, beaten with lime juice and cane sugar, like berry lime pie but better, the tiny package at the front is a sample date stuffed with peanut butter, one sixth ounce (!), grape tomatoes, so long since I had fresh tomatoes, this will be good.

Such beauty, like jewels. I'll never get used to it.

Next week I will catch up on extra for the food pantry. I waited to get a bit of advice from my friend who has started volunteering there, any items they just never get and would like. 

One is smaller bags of ground coffee so they can give to more people rather than one huge bag which can go in only one box.  I expect the same principle applies to condiments too.

Thank you for all the responses about self care, that's great, we may get ideas from each other.  My next bit of self care is a helping of yogurt with the fancy berries.

But first I wash the produce, sweep the floor break down the box and invent a new vaccine. After that I'm free.

Happy day everyone, if you've also got this one milder day -- up to the 40s f -- enjoy it. Because winter will be back. The HOA just emailed to say the snow folk are bringing out the big guns, I mean plows,  for the forecast foot of snow, and staging them onsite ready. Oo-er. Cue dramatic music.

The sympathy flags and symbols I put up are getting out of hand. I might open a Flag Blog. Or just list the people he hasn't insulted and harassed, might be fewer.

Strength, cardio and misfits

Thursday is misfit day, and I did a workout to get my strength up ready for the Big Lift. In fact I bring the food in bit by bit, so the big lift is usually the almost empty box with maybe a few apples in it.

April and Aiko again. I hadn't done resistance, the physical kind, that is, for a few days, just walking and stretches and dancing in the kitchen, so I was pretty feeble. I did get through it, strength, cardio, isometrics, not resorting to sitting.  Strength really melts away if you take too many days off.

Yesterday I donated a bag of food to the food pantry with the help of a ride from Gary, and he carried in the bag. I did have a little agenda here, because he's been talking about donating and hasn't been doing it. 

But once he saw how local the pantry is and how easy it was to donate, no bureaucracy, he was all fired up with ideas about cans he has in the house that he'll donate.  He tends to over buy, so he can do this.   And he has plans to buy for giving in future. That will be good.

On the way home he said his phone, yet again, was out of action. Until he could get it to the shop later that day, he couldn't get on with some urgent calls. 

So while his latest top of the line $$$ iPhone, carrier some big name,  was out of action, I lent him my cheap and cheerful $Motorola, carrier Tracfone, and he got caught up.  I was nice. I didn't gloat.

Today's haul, delivered by Jeff. Pure cane sugar, fair trade, for general use, red onions to dice and freeze because I'm out, yellow onions dittto, I use a lot of onions, ginger and garlic likewise, spinach to go in everything, more or less, canned goods for the food pantry, beautiful brown free range eggs. 

These are real eggs, that need a sharp rap on the counter to crack them, and have a deep yellow stand up yolk. I don't crack eggs on the side of the bowl since Jacques Pepin said it was a way to drive eggshell fragments into the egg. 

Blueberries to go with the yogurt, bread because I'm too bone idle to bake, chocolate almonds because everyone needs a little something now and then. Some to my neighbor across the street whose soup container needs to be returned. Never return a container empty!

Look at these beauties. Too big for the supermarket -- this is two pounds each of the onions. They're now more or less diced and frozen, and the red onion skins are in a jar of water to make a nice pink dye for some future purpose or other. 

Happy day everyone, do all the things, follow the Yorkshire saying: break eggs with a stick. Meaning plunge in, regardless.

Marigold looking down from the blanket in the sky saying look at that, still running about doing stuff, she hasn't learned a thing.

Springlike walk and Misfits

Thursday was springlike, just for a day or two, and my morning walk under the trees was full of birdsong and animal tracks. 

I heard a downy woodpecker rattling then saw her (no red hat) start pecking on a tree. Very early for nesting. And I heard but didn't see chickadees and Carolina wrens, saw but didn't hear a little flock of juncoes.

The downed trees are usually left where they fall if they're not in the way,  and they provide habitat for a lot of animals and birds

At the top of the standing trees there's a whole colony of mourning doves, and, lower down, the juncoes flitter about.

A bit further along, you see where squirrels demonstrate their bite strength on these black walnuts.

If you've ever tried to break into black walnuts you'll know what pressure it takes. 

The prescribed method is to spread them on a hard surface, such as a concrete driveway, place a board on top and drive your car back and forward to crush them. 

Then you can spend the rest of the day picking out the delicious fragments of nut, before deciding to just go with regular walnuts. Besides, the regular ones can be cracked to make two miniature doll beds from the shell. Just sayin. 

Misfits pickup is out ready for Haleem, whom I messaged with a New Year greeting.

He got back with a very appreciative text.

Canned goods and mustard for the food pantry, oats and peanut butter for granola bars, cod pieces (!) because I need fish 'n chips, potatoes for the chips, also for roasted dice with the chicken pieces I just roasted, apples great relief, I really missed them last week, mushrooms to slice and freeze ready for omelettes, and to accompany chicken and roast potatoes, sardines for sandwiches for my brain, BananAZ! dundeedeedundeedee etc, mango pieces to go with yogurt, blueberries likewise, avocado oil because I finished the last of it in the red chili oil.

This was a nice order. 

Happy day everyone, I hope you're as well fed as I and able to get out among trees and calming nature,  in our current turmoil and tragedy.

Fluffageddon says breathe, plan, persist, resist