Good news, baskets and towels

The medical testing went fine, no issues at all,  even the thing they spotted two weeks ago had gone away. So all's well, and thank you for your kind words and notes.

Home to Textiles and Tea and 

a basket maker working in twined fiber, embroidery floss over wire. She's interested in mythology and how it intersects with current situations. 

And she has a daily blog.

Before you go over there, take a look at her work. She started life as a painter then moved on to fiberarts when basketry appeared, after a foray into clay. Clay is too clumsy a medium for her fine lines and profiles, and twined fiber works better for her ideas.

Here she is in front of some of her materials

Fallen wings of Icarus, life-sized and can be attached to a person.

Cranes here, threatened by predator snakes

These are all poisonous plants, as in folklore

This linen thread as a drawing

She's a wildly inventive and fearless artist never repeats herself, only accepts commissions that fit what she already does. 

When people start to list what they want in a piece she declines the commission and gives them first refusal on her next piece instead. I find that an elegant approach to inappropriate demands.

She was a welcome soft landing after a tense day getting the exams done and read and the relief of a good verdict. 

I don't know if I can do this again. This is the third false alarm I've had, and at this age I am wondering how I'd handle a sad diagnosis. 

I certainly think radiation and chemo and the accompanying side effects are hardly worth it at my age with my life expectancy. 

I had already told Handsome Son that if it came to that, I'd do the least possible and get pain relief but not look for a cure or even remission. I'll bring it up to my doctor, again, when I see her next month. At this point I even resent the two weeks of worrying about the recall.

Happy day everyone, relief is lovely, and I was cheered by having a dishy Lyft driver home, Muhammad. I favorited him on my report (!)

 Here's the pancakes you may have seen on YouTube sizzling, served with macerated apples and nectarines. Breakfast of Queens.

And, since I'm getting my bathroom renovated a bit, if the contractor artist friend ever comes back to continue, he's taking longer than ever before, but I digress, I decided to ditch my threadbare towels.

Here's the replacements, hand towels and bath towels for both bathrooms, in fact very nice sage and mid green but photographing as grey. 

The old ones are decades old and really ready to be floor cloths. The new ones will go nicely with the peach walls in one bathroom and the pale blue in the other.

And here's the second sighting in over 35 years in this neighborhood of deer. There were twin fawns, still with juvenile coats, and the doe. They let me get close before moving on.  Couldn't catch both fawns at once, so typical of kids, different directions.

It's like herding artists, sez Ted and Big Ursy and Pony and Ursula 

Oat flat bread, and less important things

The latest experiment in the bread department is oat flatbreads, not very photogenic, but quite good for breakfast with blueberry jam. 

They didn't puff up as advertised, probably ai rather than reality, but they're pretty good. Just oatmeal and salt blended with warm water and cooked on top of the stove. 

In other news, this has been the most appealing thing I've seen recently 

It certainly beats all the panic about hypothetical situations I'm seeing online. We have enough real events to be concerned about. 

Then there's this 

It's becoming too laborious to plow through all the posts on blogs to find the current one, so I'm rethinking my following.  If blogger reinstates its feed, I'll reconsider.

But for now I'm not spending much time on the lengthy scrolling and clicking it takes just to be up to date. I've already winnowed down the number of blogs on my list, largely rare posters and repetitive cut and paste. Nothing personal, just energy saving measures.

And before you ask, yes, I have explored other feed mechanisms, without finding one that will work on the devices I have. 

So I'm active on YouTube and Spoutible, and we'll see.  

Tomorrow is the ultrasound recall and I need to fix up a ride.  And keep breathing.

Happy day everyone, especially if you find this post! Stranger things have happened.

Go on with our lives.

 Today's marked with all kinds of ceremonies and remembrances. My own is a quiet video moment on YouTube by the town fountain. Just breathing.

But I think the real work is to go on living our lives, undeterred by outside forces, still fighting them, but without deforming our daily lives.

Yesterday I was out at the library because the house cleaners were at work at the house.  I  spent the time partly indoors, making videos and people watching, partly out sitting in the shade by the fountain.

Meanwhile the Misfits delivery arrived and the proof of delivery picture showed it in the hallway inside the open front door, meaning my lovely cleaners had received it. When I got home it was safely indoors, on the counter, still cool.

Then prep happened, yesterday and this morning. Yesterday the masses of kale, washed, torn and frozen. 

Then I made jam with the blueberries, diced the ginger, made a sauce of ginger, garlic and soy sauce.

This morning I set up the chicken with soy/ginger/garlic sauce to roast.

And diced the apples to macerate with cornstarch, cinnamon, vanilla, and amchur.

And steamed the carrots, ready for quiches or chicken dinners, or something.

This is all part of the resistance, taking care of our health and strength, despite the attacks on both.  Just sayin.

All the major players for me yesterday were women, gay and straight, different races and ethnicity. The close friend who drove me yesterday accepts me as an ally in female solidarity. Anyway, there we are. 

Happy day everyone, it really can be.

Can you identify this and improve my day? Early morning picture. I'm wondering evening primrose.

And here's one of my narrow bands at work in another international spy outfit. 

Bouquets continue, Tuesday Knitting and Textiles and Tea

I'm more inclined to be home reading, walking, cooking than going out these days. 

But I did get to the knitting group yesterday, where there were great projects in progress, from a sock to my latest project 

The sock knitter is now the owner of all my size 2 bamboo needles, easier than using a circular needle. 

Here's my latest stitching, an old pair of jeans now to be embroidered. I've been thinking of this for ages and finally, needing a portable project for my group meetings, started on it. It's the kind of thing that can go in whenever I feel like it, but I can still wear the jeans at any point.

Talk ranged over sheep festivals -- local one this weekend, and I have two offers of rides, but it's crowds, not my thing, broken bones, travel, adult learners in the arts, cat rescue, fountains and more.

Home to Textiles and Tea with weaver and collage artist

She translates her collage work into her tapestry weaving. Her pieces often have political messages, such as race and the isolation of COVID. This was particularly significant to her as a Chinese-American woman when the Chinese were blamed for the pandemic. 

Her joyful and open attitude are a contrast to the seriousness of her subject matter, and the high level color and pattern skills of her work. More on her website. Go there!

Meanwhile food and flowers continue to feature around here.

Today's little bouquet, Flowers still going, but slower now. Soon I'll take out the foliage and get the garden ready for the next planting season. 

Meanwhile here's this year's entire potato harvest.

Last year I had a plateful, a glut. This year it's a platonic ideal of a potato, deserving some special tiny recipe to do it justice.

The garden is still green and growing but the season's showing, oh I'm a poet and I don't noet.

Another Large Quiche happened 

This one with red onions, fresh garlic, potatoes and a range of cheeses. The mozzarella accounts for the nice browning. I'm still calling it a quiche, though it's getting further away from the original recipe. 

More adaptation and I'll make a nice peach thing with a crumble and call it a peache quiche!

Happy day everyone, I think the more I'm in the company of books and plants the less interest I have in people's shenanigans.

Animals, too, I'm involved in helping rehome a rescued cat who needs a one-cat home. She's currently safe with a friend, but needs a permanent home.