Nature notes, weaving, lace and fish

 Sad little nature note this morning

It looks as if the mourning doves have deserted the nest. I saw a dove on the fence above the nest, but the one egg I could see is rolled off, nobody's sitting. It might be disturbance from humans, two visits from neighbors yesterday, or animals -- where's the other egg? -- but nobody's there now.

Mourning doves and other birds do desert nests and eggs, part of what happens in nature, but I felt sad anyway.

In happier news, here's the first skirt panel and pocket, off the loom and ready for finishing and using. I think I'll make all the panels first, then finish as needed.

And here's where that handful of dandelion leaves went

.

Tilapia poached in milk, sauce made from a bit of shrimp stock from the freezer, minced dandelion greens, dash of milk, bit of sugar, steamed carrots. And I tried the chutney, very good, even if I tried it a bit before its time.

 

There's plenty more fish, for a second lunch like this, then probably a curry, too.

Yesterday I decided since the weather is finally warmer, in the 70s, I could retire the red felt winter door curtain, and hang the green and white striped canvas summer one

And take a look at this Spanish lace, with its original architectural design inspiration, top right picture 

Off for yet another Covid booster this morning, recommended now for people over 65, also people with health risks. They're going to need to add another page to my certificate at this rate. I'm already on the back of it.

Happy day everyone, take it as it comes. Expectations are what do us in, better handle with care.

Oh, and the answer to the latest Haggard Hawks puzzle is

SHORTCUT

Tom gave a great clue. Always read the comments when you're baffled by a puzzle.

Salute to women quilters of color, Together lunch, next stage planning for Art Shaped piece

 Today since handsome Son is visiting I probably won't get to see Textiles and Tea.

So I thought,  before February's gone, I'd do a salute to a wonderful quilter, historian, writer, teacher , retired aerospace engineer, yes, that's the field she got her doctorate in, African American woman.

This is all on YouTube. Go there. She's brilliant.

Meanwhile in a humbler context, I found myself in mid-winnow doing what you'd expect when a lover of fiber finds roving she'd forgotten, which goes nicely with the new sari silk roving

On the spindle is the new sari silk, spun. 

And today's winnowing is yet to happen but it's decided on.

Meanwhile, the Together cookbook is in action. Page 77, Baked fish with tahini and pomegranate.

As usual, substitutions happened. Tilapia was the only available fish, and no tahini in the house. I don't like tahini, some sweet edge to it. (I pretended not to see the pomegranate seeds, but they're just a garnish.)

I also don't like peanut butter, but it's okay as a substitute for tahini in my hummus. 

So i figured why not here, too. And I have no pine nuts, but since they're just about a bit of crunch, the peanut butter being crunchy, that worked. I did have actual parsley, you'll be glad to know I didn't sub hairy bittercress, though it's growing and I could.

The book has started acquiring notes

 And here's the theater of cooking

This makes two meals and a whole fillet leftover for kedgeree or fishcakes or something.

And the sauce -- whoa Nelly, was that good. I ended up spooning a bit over the broccoli, too.  Definitely making that again. Good over salmon, I'd guess, and green vegetables.

So, all fed and ready, I got to work on the artwork head. What looked like a mask yesterday is in fact the face, and it will be attached to a head as soon as I build one.

I woke this morning wondering how to do it. I don't have paper suitable to make a head shape, never get newspapers, recycled all the packing paper, what to do.. then I remembered messing about in the roving, noting some not good for spinning, could use that. 

Then another thought smote me -- duh, batting. Lightweight, could work. I have the stuffing insides of a sofa cushion which collapsed years ago, to use. But how to make it hold up as I build..yet another thought, use tissue box found in recent winnowing. Yes! 

Plenty of thoughts, so I've started.

Measuring, head needs to be bigger

Getting there. Tomorrow I'll figure out the next bit and maybe adjust and paint the face. The head will need some sort of armature, as will  the  rest of the figure. We'll get to that.

Meanwhile happy day everyone, keep having thoughts, they're useful.

Photo AC 

Boud 2, obstacles 0

 Here's a joyful picture

It's the view from the recovery area after I got the bivalent Covid booster yesterday. Success. I had tried yet again to make an appointment at a different CVS. 

why CVS you ask? Because Rite Aid and Walgreens, the only other chains with vaccine sites, had no appointments within 25 miles. In NJ that means up to two hours away. In NJ, heavily traveled, you explain distance by time required not by miles.

Anyway back to CVS,and this time I took a same day slot, figuring they had less time to run out before I got there.

I knew where this store was, meaning I only got lost twice on the way, and once coming home, pretty much my style.

And the other customers were lovely, once they heard me speak, offering condolences (!) and was I watching all the funeral events. It was done in a friendly way though, not that "othering" intended by the rude " where are you from, really?" type of question.

And the pharma was lovely, very cheerful, assured me it was the right vaccine, took care of me early because he could, and all went well. 

I had to switch from Moderna to Pfizer to get an appointment,  but I'm told that's not a problem. And the aftereffects are nothing more than a sore arm. Nothing like the days down with fever and chills and weakness after the other boosters.

Part Two of my excellent day was that the formerly nonworking website for my prescriptions sent an update email about renewal, complete with working link. 

I was able to get in and navigate and it's working. None of the malarkey I experienced in August when they nearly drove me mad. 

My theory is that whoever knew how to run the website and do updates correctly was on vacation, and it was fixed after they got back. 

My son the geek says that's not a joke, it's very likely why I was getting such silly advice, people over their heads treading water till she got back.

After a celebratory little bag of m&ms, I took a look at the plants to come indoors soon. 

This is why it's good to let pots contact the ground, so they flourish by putting down roots through the pot. Both the basils are doing well and once I clear these hair roots, they'll adapt to the kitchen for ready use. 

This is  about the fifth year I've done this with the Thai basil, letting it reseed in the same pot. First year I've grown the Italian basil from seed in a pot.

And since lunch was interrupted by the vaccine trip, it became dinner, tilapia on a bed of basmati rice cooked with walnuts and dried cranberries .

The fish was just excellent quality, from Misfits, 385°f for fifteen minutes, butter and oil and Old Bay. This is one of three dinners I'll get from it. 

Very easy cooking, and very happy results. My style.

Happy day everyone, may all your attempts be successful today.