Socks released, and other treats

 Yesterday was derma checkup, the last of the current doctor appointments which I've felt plagued by this year. Great news. No problem, and I'm off the six monthly visit, back to one year.  Exhaling now.  

She also listened to the issue of skin tenderness and shoulder stuff, said only a couple of benign skin-related things which she promptly fired at with her laser gun. So I conclude that the shoulder complaint is probably repetitive stress and the rest from knitting seems to have been a good move .

I appear to be a well old thing, and decided to celebrate with

Which I refer to as Health Bar. Mental health, that is.

And the socks are now living independently

The color looks different against the white background. They're a natural cream color.  I did shortrow heels rather than the pointed ones in the pattern.

Today I'm back to the Sock Ministry and maybe I'll do a blend of the pattern and my own joined idea, start with a toe, knit the heels on the way as usual, but do the separation point at the cuffs, and finish with the second toe. That way I'll have shortrow toes and heels, my preference for comfort for the recipients. 

I have some fleecy fabric ready to make pants with as soon as I get it together, just based on current pants, except I'll insert pockets. These are for me though.

Then I watched Sally Pointer making a hair rinse for her curly dry hair. Curly hair is usually dry, and I decided to do likewise. 

I don't have the fresh rosemary, chamomile, and lavender she used, so I used my essential oils, and a chamomile tea bag, with a few drops of tea tree oil. I did have apple cider vinegar, so I filled it up with that. 

Ready for use in a few days, a couple of teaspoons in a cup of warm water, poured over, left in the hair. We'll see if this helps with the dryness once the heating season starts.

This blog is turning into a helpful hints corner. What next, quizzes on the Five Things You're Doing Wrong with Your Herbaceous Border, or Ten Ways to be a Good Person? 

While we're down that rabbit hole, here's a puzzle 

H - - - y - - - b.   Fill in the blanks.

And here's a lovely beaded work from the collection of the Textile Museum of George Washington U.

It's enough to get a person beading again.

It looks as if Russia was handed its head at the UN this week, huge majority voting to disapprove the attempt to annex parts of Ukraine.

And I found an artwork that echoes the imagery of the Ukraine flag, so here it is

Happy day everyone, and we now know for certain, after the January Capitol attack video, that taking over a panicked Congress keeping them together safe and and resilient under fire, is all in a day's work to someone who raised five kids. Nancy Pelosi, G.O.A.T.

Good eye witness report , Textiles and Tea, fiber plans

All's well with Eye One, now ready for Eye Two tomorrow . Very good reports up to now. And the optho promised a word with the anaesthesiologist to dial down the fentanyl in the mix, to avoid the aftereffects. So  all's good.

Handsome Son and I had a rapid lunch, card presentation and cake, before he had to dash into work, taking half the remaining cake home with him, birthday custom. It went well. It's pretty good, worth the dratted pitting.

Then I fell into a deep sleep, partly the cake, partly the effects of being out in feels like 100+ temps. 

I woke with the alert telling me Textiles and Tea was up.

She's very young but already established, famous textile artists such as Rebecca mezoff messaged in as she talked, to greet her.

She works in tapestry, very small, here about six by nine inches, and overshot, very large, here seen as bedspreads. And she embroiders in cross stitch. Next she fancies willow basket making! Such energy and talent, fun to watch, and so happy in her life.

Later I caught Sally Pointer on YouTube organizing her fibers and seeing that wonderful array of threads it occurred to me that I might mix roving into my natural string.

I remarked recently that cord making us really spinning and plying, and it dawned that I could try drafting roving into the process of cord making, for a mixed wool and plant thread for making the rest of this basket or whatever it is.

Or maybe plying some spun yarn with string, we'll see.

 When my shoulder agrees, that is. Those few inches of cord I made a couple of days ago cost me. 

And socks will always be happening, just not as incessantly as before. Sister M knows the situation and is fine with it.

This morning, less hot today, nice rain for the plants, and the self seeded tomato has taken over, hopeful of a good crop, since we have plenty of growing year left. 

And, in the other corner, the sage has never grown like this, taking over chairs, other plants, all it surveys. 

The little Italian basil I started indoors in water, here meeting its future home

And here, established as a kitchen plant

My neighbor who grew up on a farm, swears by a pot of basil in the kitchen to deter insects. 

Soon the Thai basil will come in, too, to use in cooking. 

And the political scene appears more cheerful than for years, two new NATO members now in solidarity, right wingers in disarray with Scott's phone under scrutiny. 

I really wonder if there's an increase in stress-related medical events in the right wing. They're certainly seeing chickens coming home to roost big-time. I don't wish them ill, just clearer thinking. Which might be the impossible dteam.

Happy day everyone, play on! Enjoy what you can, you're worth it!

New foliage for string, flower id again, HS verdict

Early summer mornings are becoming a favorite time, moseying about the patio and outside the fence, Cool wet feet, making discoveries.

This morning i need another plant id, a volunteer since the fencing upturned the soil

My flower books tend to be more useful after I've got a name to look up!

And I had to disentangle vining vegetables from next door which were wrapping around my cherry and spice bushes.  Here they are, sent home

And while I was doing this i noticed faded iris leaves, which will probably make great string

Picked, split, wrapped in a damp cloth inside a plastic bag. 

Eventually, this supply will join my bag o' string doings

Seen here with the current wip.

Yesterday Handsome Son made a quick visit around lunchtime so I set him up a snack of a salad and smoked salmon on pita bread, two quarters of pita, which he tried, said not bad, didn't want the second quarter. I gladly helped home with it. 

He explained it tastes like ham to him, not a fan.  Amazement. He liked the poptart though not wildly enthusiastic, since he's not a junk eater anyway.

As a deli worker he handles lox a lot, keen clientele, and he told me when anyone asks him to cut more than half a  pound, he reminds then of the $30+ pound price, just to avoid sticker shock.

After he left I spent the afternoon on the deck, perfect weather, reading Angela Thirkell and cording and watching a tiger swallowtail on the butterfly bush next door.  No good pix despite a number of tries. 

There may also have been sleeping, and I woke a bit bitten. 

Today might be Sally Pointer day

A field of flax in bloom

Natural dyeing 

And pulling her bronze age leg.

And Emmy van D is always on point

Happy day everyone, pretend to be Boudicca and this time maybe we'll win the Battle of Colchester. Or our current equivalent.

Transitions, Sally Pointer and Misfits

 Misfits arrived yesterday, interesting trying to bring it indoors without bending or lifting. It's mainly lovely summer fruit this week. 

Apricots have such a short season, here just a few days, blink and you've missed them, so I seized the chance. And since my breakfast is usually half a pita stuffed with fruit, I have my choice. This morning canteloupe.

I had an under the weather night, between shoulder issues and stomach still not sure what to do, so I did a bit of YouTube surfing and found  Sally Pointer's lovely channel about ancient textiles and making things from unusual threads.

This is so tempting, though I don't have enough hair to put in a net, but I really fancy trying this out. It's sprang, a kind of weaving, a bit like Maori finger weaving. She's working in linen thread.

All I needed, to learn one more textile art..

Yesterday's post operative checkup revealed a tiny leak in an incision, and I now have another set of drops on top of the others and a early morning appointment Monday to see if they worked. 

Gary dropped in last evening to talk about Where the Crawdads Sing which is apparently a movie now, and he'd just seen it and to panic over my eye. He commented that I'm calmer than he is about the latest development! 

One terrific thing I've noticed is that my walls, which had been looking dingy, and not in my repertoire to repaint these days, unlike the past, suddenly look a lot cleaner out of the good eye,  and not needing painting half as much as I thought. This is great. I used to do all my own house painting, but nowadays it's not such a good idea to be climbing. So I have a reprieve.

Yesterday's movie was a forgettable old comedy with all the usual suspects, 

Ladies who Do, meaning office cleaning women. They accidentally become capitalists after inadvertently getting inside information about upcoming financial projects their employers are involved in.  Bit of fluff, but well done. You'll recognize these faces, probably.

Also this

Basically a new kind of Whisky Galore, set in a remote Scottish island, okay, also forgettable. But worth a look.

And last evening I did a bit of color play

This morning Krista Tippett was so on point with a message about transitions, just where my tiny world is, speaking of lenses, never mind the stunning new pictures from space of even more of the universe than we knew

This is great stuff. And we're always in some transition or other, so it's useful for everyone.

Happy day everyone, hoping for a good day today, drops and all!