Food, cleanup and at the end of the day sad news

Friday Michael the Transformer came and took away the kitchen doors and drawer fronts to refinish them and let them outgass across the street at his house.

He cautioned me to pace myself with clearing out, now that I can see what was behind the doors.  Hm. Not sure how that's done.

And an hour after he left, I'd sorted the two left cabinets 

So much easier when you can see what you're doing.

One thing led to another and I remembered the ginger in the fridge still waiting to be diced. Instead, having also remembered the microplane, I thought I'd just grate the ginger, skin and all, and dice what was left.

Now it's in the freezer ready to use. I don't like peeling and dicing ginger despite the lovely smell, so I think the microplane will be the go-to from now on. 

I was given it and thought I'd never use it. But it's so much easier than the way I used to zest lemons and limes, and now process ginger. 

I don't like prepping food at all, but do it because I need to. I do like the results though.

Then I went out and pulled out a huge armload of daylily foliage and dayflowers. I set them down to settle before carrying them to the woods to dispose of them. The front area looks much less wild now  

Then later I noticed a feature about items better made at home than ordered in a restaurant. One was about poaching shrimp in a court bouillon, which I'd never done.

I don't have any white wine but I had the necessary peppercorns, lemon slices, salt and you can use bay leaf but I used curry leaves.

I simmered this ten minutes, strained it, then brought it to a boil again, put in the shrimp, frozen, turned off the heat and poached for about five minutes. It's a couple of minutes longer than you'd use for thawed shrimp.

 

Poached shrimp, whole wheat toast, dipping sauce, summer supper. Another time I might put the court bouillon flavorings into a bag to make them easy to remove without straining.

I'd prepared this blog then I got a call from a local friend,  to say our longtime mutual friend died Thursday. She'd been sick and we'd been anxiously following her for news recently but it's still a shock.  

I went to visit her husband right away and at his request notified other mutual friends and neighbors.  She'd requested no services, a quiet private ceremony only.  She was in her sixties.

Three of my friends used to plan to be my caregivers in old age. I have now outlived all of them.  Please do vibes or prayers or what you do, for her widower and son. Her son has now lost his partner and his mother over just a few weeks.

Not a happy day, more of a getting through it day.  

Busy Tuesday, graduation, new doors for old, Textiles and Tea

Tuesday was packed, largely with men, their worlds crisscrossing.

The landscapers roared around, flinging cut off foliage everywhere. Then Gary and Contractor Michael arrived to, blessedly, take the new doors out of the living room, so Michael could fix the hinges and doorknobs and fit them outside.

Next Gary will paint them and, I guess he or Michael will rehang.

In the middle of this, Emil arrived for my last PT session, walking, learning new moves and plans to continue on my own. I graduated! So I rang the bell! My Lenox glass bell.

It's official! 

Soon after, Handsome Son came to visit, and we had an afternoon on the deck with tea and the last of the cake I'd saved for him in the freezer.

He went off to a meeting, then I caught up with Textiles and Tea, with Geri Forkner, mixed media artist, nuno felter and weaver.

She's mainly a teacher of all age groups and makes a wide variety of fiber art samples to teach from and demonstrate.

One ongoing project has been over 20 years in progress, daily tiny weavings of found objects and materials. 

She's stitched them together and exhibits them as strips, sometimes in a natural setting. 

,

Her nuno, wet,  wool felting becomes clothing and objects such as the fish you see. 

She's done work on electronic fabrics using LED lights in her weaving, with foil bags, teabags, an array of unlikely and interesting objects.  Next for her? 3D chickens in nuno felt!

Always learning, here she's in Canyon Chelle, taking a class from two Navajo sisters who grew up there.

And teaching, here she's teaching nuno felting to a class of design students in Bangkok.

She's got endless curiosity and willingness to try whatever's next, great fun to spend time listening to her.

And then it was evening. Egg sandwich for supper, maybe  even do the dishes, or maybe not get carried away. Never a dull moment.

Quiches, Textiles and Tea, sofa risers, doors, keys, cabbages and kings

Cooking for the freezer today, two crustless spinach quiches, using mozzarella cheese. 

Battle stations, then wonderful smelling quiches hot from the oven. Once cooled, I'll slice and wrap them for the freezer, to go to when I'm recovering.

Today's PT was a bit rugged, the changing temperature, swinging over 40 degrees over a couple of days, having made Helen Hip a bit unhappy.  

I got resistance bands, green blue and black from Theraband, Emil's recommendation for my current fitness level, and tomorrow I'll start with them. Years ago I had bands, which wore out, proving I used them. 

Then Gary rushed in, wanting to check various keys I keep,  because he changed his lock.  

All done at warp speed.

Textiles and Tea today presented Peyton Pearson, a brilliantly gifted weaver, hsnd dyer, graphic designer, punch needle artist, already with a name, at 27!

Watch out for him, he's a rising star.

Then another irruption from Gary, who has finally found the right doors for our outdoor storage areas. Which will need to be stored in my living room pending painting and installation.  He needs a second person to lift them -- heavy solid slab, not hollowcore.

Here's a neighbor helping, Gary being on the other side, glimpses only

And here's the current state of play

The door, stored until painted and installed outside, adds a charming rustic touch to this shabby chic interior. 

In among all this is Michael the contractor,  who has finished the risers for the sofa, just before leaving for a week.

Note the higher level of the sofa, unbelievably more comfortable now that the height is right.

Now to fold the laundry I was doing before the day got complicated. My knitting friends also emailed today with offers of help and food if required, so nice.

Considering I'm a single older party living alone, it's amazing how complicated my days can get. Something for everyone today.

Happy day everyone, try not to have everything happening at once. Which is more than your humble blog writer can manage, it seems.

One busier person today was my Senator, Cory Booker, holding the floor of the US  Senate,  giving a marathon civics and history class, with the support of other Democrats, and still going, since yesterday, non-stop. Good trouble and a hero of our time.

Reclaiming our flag 

Quiet Wednesday

 On Freecycle this is on offer 

I'm refraining from checking into it. Trying to move the dolls, not bring in flamingoes. 

Quiet day with heavy rain, so I read, very good narrative in The Night in Question, and continued my crocheted and knitted gloves. 

And made a miniature lasagna, two helpings, which fitted into the little toaster oven. And it finished up the box of noodles which definitely needed to be done with.

This morning I called Gary and we continued the endless story of the exterior doors. The weather won't work for painting and hanging exterior doors now, so we talked about buying them in before prices rise (again) and storing them in my loft. He liked this idea and it may happen. At least that's the plan.

There may have been some sleeping, cosy indoors. 

Happy day everyone, a quiet day is a Good Thing.

Walking, quiet out there

 I went for a walk as far as the pond, and had it to myself. No frogs leaping, no ducks, no turtles. Just me and the windblown trees and the water

I wonder how these plants will fit back in the house when it's time

Underfoot is always interesting, not many nuts down this year, but here's evidence if what used to grow there 

Back home, there's an industrious spider, whose web wasn't visible until the sun shone through it and I noticed how big it is. You can see filaments all over the tree 

See her there?

Signs of winter planning here, coleus started in water to be potted up for a houseplant soon. The parent plant is outside, leggy and a bit awkwardly shaped, so I think it can stay out. 

I started it from seed last year, then brought it in to continue as a houseplant, taking it out again this summer. So its descendant is now to be an indoor plant again.

This afternoon's peace was broken into by Gary and the other neighbor and another discussion about the doors. 

At this point everyone's a bit loud and irritated about them, one neighbor also shouting, she talks in a shout, about a couple of other only slightly related grievances. 

We did reach a conclusion about the doors and Gary escaped by driving off for lunch.  I escaped when the other neighbor finally wound down..

I find her wearing, permanently angry and aggrieved, no doubt well meaning, but to an old lady who lives quietly alone, so loud. She's one of those TV on all the time people, constant noise suits her. I probably take her too seriously. Retired teacher, maybe not enough to take up her energy these days.

Happy day everyone, from a quiet home, just crickets and me!