New issues for old, and oh well

So I called the doctor's office to postpone, and the first lady I spoke to spent ages checking before offering me an appointment in June. I said I already had a physical scheduled for May, so maybe not. Whereupon she wisely said I'll leave a message for the nurse and maybe she can do better.

Nurse Christine called back in minutes, and I'm now scheduled for late February, a Tuesday, so I may miss knitting and Textiles and Tea, but oh well. 

I'd tried for two days with three devices to message Christine over the patient portal, which kept hanging up and not letting me far enough in to message.  Christine said hm, I'm getting other messages, let me inform IT and see if it's an issue with your account.

They emailed promptly with instructions on how to use the portal. So I replied with a terse explanation of how long I'd been doing that just fine,  and a screenshot of the hangup point, with notes on the workarounds I'd tried. So we'll see. 

I understand explaining from scratch might be their routine first response, and they didn't have details on what was happening. But I think asking me to describe would be a better first step.  Maybe we'll get there soon.

Meanwhile Handsome Son is coming over, and I got cake out of the freezer saved for the purpose. He usually comes over after lunch, and last time said he skips dessert assuming there will be cake here. No pressure there!

Excellent lunch today, shrimp cavatappi, pasta cooked in the sauce, shrimp added in last two minutes. Enough for a second meal tomorrow.

Dessert was peach chunks in syrup.

And there are plenty more shrimp. I'm thinking shrimp salad and I'll make mayo. With the rest of the green beans. 

I texted my driving crew yesterday to let them know I didn't need a ride to knitting today and got them up to date on the cotton. 

M, who gave me the cotton, tells me she's found yet another fiber skill for us to learn. Shepherd's knitting and various other names, done with a flat hook.

 

I checked this out and it turns out to be slip stitch crochet with a fat hook if you can't get the genuine flat hook, in various patterns. Hm. Even when I don't get to the group I'm still active in the group.

Speaking of activism, words matter. When our government fails in its job, when the Republicans have a clean sweep, President,  Senate and House, let's not say Congress didn't do this or that. Correctly its Republicans who didn't do this or that and repeatedly blocked Democratic initiatives. That's not Congress, that's Republicans.

Similarly, in coverage of the Epstein abuses, don't accept the word women, they were children. And don't accept the expression underage women. They're children. And don't accept the expression sex with a minor. It's rape. Words matter.

Off my soapbox now, to organize a spot of tea and cake.

Happy day everyone, have your equivalent of tea and cake. 

Lentil cheese bread, more action

Today I made a new-to-me savory bread thing, to accompany soup or for breakfast.

Lentil cheese bread.

Red lentils, soaked overnight, two eggs, cheese spread because I had no cottage cheese and it was pretty near in consistency, garlic, onion, oregano, salt pepper etc as here. No mozzarella but extra cheddar.

This is one of those annoying recipes which is reluctant to tell you oven heat and time. I had to search. It's 30 minutes at 350°f. 

The dough looked like this 

Ready for the oven 

Done, hot 

Now a nice accompaniment for the last of the chickpea etc stew. I could up the condiments a bit, they were a little piano.

I skipped putting oil and parchment paper in the muffin tins, not a good idea. They're supposedly nonstick, but it was tricky getting the muffin things out. Next time I'll do that step.

It's a nice light savory bread, which will work for breakfasts.  I'm quite pleased at remembering to soak the lentils last night.

I was listening to an audiobook with QE2 detecting while all this was going on. Not up for much more, because the unremitting cold is definitely causing hibernation mode at the moment. 

Reading, online jigsaw puzzles, because of Mary Anne, thinking about art but not making it today, planning what I can cancel this week. I did sweep the downstairs floors. And took out boxes to recycle. Picked up the mail.  

And discovered after a good bit of experiments and swapping out of cords, adapters etc that my paper shredder had not after all broken down, nor the Kindle which wouldn't charge.  

It was the Kindle which spurred me on to change outlets just in case that was the issue. Bingo, they both work fine plugged into a different wall. 

So maybe a circuit popped and I need to check when I get outside. The breaker board is in the outside storage closet, so the extreme cold might have done something to it. Everything else is working fine. 

Later diagnosis: I wondered if the GFCI in the next room also governed this outlet. There's little logic to the wiring chez  Boud.  Checked the GFCI, bingo, it wasn't working. Well it had cut out, so it actually was working to prevent overload. Reset it and the other outlet now works a treat.  So my devices do, too 

It's possible that Handsome Son will visit tomorrow which will take priority over the knitting group. I have a routine doctor appointment Wednesday, and since I'm perfectly well, I'm thinking of postponing,  cold weather, tired, flu season. 

Up to now I seem to have ducked the viruses going around, so maybe staying away from places where sick people go might be wise. We'll see.

 

Meanwhile I'm messaging my senators to remind them we still need pressure to get the ACA subsidies restored. I do have enough energy for that.

Happy day everyone. Being productive is not all it's cracked up to be, sez

Ted and Big Ursy.

FluffIceOutNow points out she sleeps about 18 hours a day, no guilt.

Chair yoga to wake with and national flag stew, white rabbits and Brigid

White rabbits and happy Brigid's Day. She seems to be the patron saint of just about anything you need. 

A bit of an overachiever, if you ask me.. started out as a pagan goddess, appropriated as a Catholic saint and protector of Ireland, put in charge of fiber and crafts, all sorts of jobs. That's like being First Lady and Secretary of State and Senator... Yes Hillary did all that.

Edith Holden on February 

If any of my fair maids came up this year, they're under there, a foot of snow. They can come up, bloom and fade, all under snow.  

Twenty minutes of chair yoga is more activity than you might think, but a great idea when you're stiff and chilly on a Sunday winter morning.

It's nicely paced with breathing included in the instructions, always a good thing.

And lunch was a quick stew which reminded me of some national flag. With garlic toast.

I'm reading a mystery where Queen Liz the Two is the detective. There's a series, and this one's at Sandringham, near the Norfolk coast.  

I just got through all the Ruth Galloways set on the same coast, I seem to be in a geographical rut.  This one's really good, funny and fast moving. 

And I completely missed a great online presentation on kilims, through having fallen asleep just before it began. So, sorry, you have no textiles to marvel at today.

Happy day everyone, do what you can, nap if you must. All good.

Cold, so I made frozen dessert and other unlikely things

Not a day for going out. I woke at three am, ready to get up but a bit early. So I made coffee and got a banana and a breakfast bar for breakfast in bed with a podcast and a video game. Eventually slept again and got up about seven to start the day again.

I'm working on this glove,

I can only do a couple of rounds before I have to rest my hands. Other stuff's happening though.

I'm thinking about that little basket idea, and here's the rather knobbly cotton yarn, now dry and ready to go. It has good strength -- I can't snap it, always a good sign.

I thought at first I'd use strips of this nicely colored postcard from W, found my shredder which makes serrated strips, has apparently broken down. Then I got right out of character and actually measured, to cut even strips.

But I changed my mind and I will probably weave the strips for another purpose, meanwhile I thought about ivy for the basket ribs, but it's all buried under snow.

Then I thought ah, wire, great contrast,  factory made wire and hand processed natural plant fiber.

So here's the materials. Stay tuned for more progress. I'm a bit hampered, hands really not working too well because of the cold weather and you can't do this kind of work with gloves. But the ideas are there 

Meanwhile, I fancied a frozen dessert given the weather's cold anyway.

Three mashed bananas, handful of blackberries, vanilla, whole powdered milk, blend, freeze several hours in glass dish, test.

This has a nice kind of ice cream bar texture, and doesn't need any stirring at intervals, because the bananas keep it from becoming solid ice. It's really good. I expect you could add sweetening or nuts or other berries, but this is what I had.

I haven't made it in years owing to a lack of bananas.

Lovely moon tonight with a fuzzy halo. 

Happy day.  Keep pushing. Sez Ted and Big Ursy 

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. 

Cold, oh well, there's lentils

 Up very early today, before dawn 

The bedroom is the warmest room, nearest the furnace, so after breakfast I went back there to read, and fell asleep again. 

Once it got up to "feels like 10°f"  I needed to get out of the house, so I did the recycling and garbage and collected the mail, most of which landed in the recycle, and picked my way home watching for ice. 

Home again I made red lentil tofu, since the Misfits box I planned for today isn't here yet, weather moving my delivery to Friday.

I'll probably make crunchy cubes with a dipping sauce for dinner.    

I did, seen here with dipping sauce and peppermint sprig.

Gary, looking much better, came dashing over to return containers from various baked goods I'd given him and a handy glass jar. I recycle a lot of things he presents me with, but the jar is a good size to make mayo.

Happy day everyone. I'm resting a bit today, to get less frazzled.  Then back to resisting tomorrow. Thanks for understanding my current state, which a lot of us are feeling just now.