Yeung Man Cooking rules

Saturday was about errands, walking, sit to stands with overhead lifts, laundry and a very nice time cooking rice, lentils and chickpeas from a Yeung Man Cooking recipe. 

What I like about his approach, aside from his calm delivery and great camera work, is that despite using many ingredients, if you follow his instructions everything will be ready together.

Here's the set-up with substitutions, of course. Spinach and scallions for cucumber, red lentils for brown, peanut butter for tahini.

You spice and bake the chickpeas while the rice and lentils cook together. While that's happening you chop and dice the vegetables.

There's a dressing, here

That's the mixed dressing on the left, and the ingredients for it. I finally got to use my za'atar mix

Here's the hot rice and lentils being mixed with the vegetables

And lunch is served. It was really good, a lovely mixture of colors and spicy flavors and textures. Definitely doing this again. It made three meals. Dessert was yogurt mixed with diced mango. 

Time to do another alteration from The Box.

This time I'm shortening the pant, technical term.

Here's the progression up to where I stopped for a cup of tea 

Never mind measuring tapes, just get a pair with the length you like, and cut to match, allowing extra length for hemming. Then pin in place leaving room for the stitching without disturbing the pins.

Then after tea, stitch the hems and you have a nice outfit.  

The white shirt will go with this, too. The pants are straight leg, but the way they're lying they look like bells.  So that's a nice outcome. I think the last, side closing plaid top will go with these pants, too. 

Happy day everyone. It works for me to have a day of moving, making, cooking and as it happened on Saturday, laundry.  

Saturday, what with one thing and another also involved quite a few flights of stairs, all good. As I was coming down for the nth time, I thought grimly I'll never get bungalow legs anyway.

Me neither, sez  Esmeralda LaFluffe

A nice murder and a pot of tea

I finally found an exterminator, and to my amazement, they were able to send a technician Friday morning. 

I got up and ready early, just as well, because Joel the Exterminator texted at a bit after seven to say he was on his way. I had to dash over and let him in, Handsome Son having left for work long before.

He inspected, found no evidence of roaches or activity, did a precautionary spray of the baseboards, and was done, leaving me with a report for the HOA, by nine. Soooo I forwarded it to them, got an acknowledgement and that's done. Except they still have to invoice me, technicians not being involved with payments. Whatever it costs I expect it will be too much.

Next to get the car in to the dealer for the fuel pump sensor recall I've been trying to get done for two years,  difficult because they haven't had the parts. I want it checked over before winter anyway. Next week I'll set it up. No use asking on a Friday, I know from past experience. 

After all this, and a flying visit to the food pantry to leave canned goods, I decided reading a nice murder mystery on the sofa, cup of tea, afghan, was fine.  

The wind was shrieking round, making it feel a lot colder and I decided not a walking day. I did a bunch of sit to stands with weights, and declared myself fit enough.

Happy day everyone, I avoided Halloween,  aside from admiring the kids in costumes,  again. I really can't handle the scary images and general feeling. 

I grew up with it as a quiet day of remembering our dead, and have never made the transition to seeing it as partying.

 But if you enjoyed it I won't spoil your fun. Different strokes, folks, etc. 

And blink, October's over. How did that happen?

Who exterminated the exterminator? Misfits

Thursday morning was about phoning and searching and trying to track down an exterminator. The one I used in July seems unreachable -- his number was answered by a different company far north, his cell out of service, not responding to emails -- maybe he retired. And all the others are franchises, none very close. 

I'm finally getting estimates, and hoping for an inspection appointment. But it's a weird world, many takeovers, and a lot of negative online reviews.  Which might be fakes written by competitors, you never know.  And they all want continuing contracts with monthly payments. All I want is a baseline for now. And a local company to do it. 

In other dull news, the high tech cream my derma prescribed for the facial skin issue hasn't done much to soothe the itch or smooth it out.  So I returned yesterday to the rosewater and glycerin I used to use, and it feels much better.  And the continuing pouring rain helps quite a bit, with the increased humidity.

Thursday afternoon is take down of the group art show, best fun I've had in a while. It's always a bit sad to remove a show, like leaving a party in a way. 

At the library in the afternoon, my spirits were lifted when I saw a crowd of little kids getting organized for the Halloween parade and party. Tiny dinosaurs, pumpkins, cats, crocodiles, all kinds of costumes. No pix because kids.

Misfits was delivered in the rain, poor guy 

How I know when to expect them

Handy for the customer, but not so good for Robert this week's driver, working under surveillance. They're very accurate. The pink truck must be in the shop this week.

Here's the usual suspects. Extra canned goods for the food pantry. Olive oil because I'm nearly out and I use it daily. Scallions and spinach for the required leafy greens. The scallions are so fresh they snap. Beautiful brown free-range eggs for many purposes, what do you want for dinner, there's eggs, style. Two lots of panko, one now in the freezer for insurance because I like breading.  Brown rice, now spending a couple of days in the freezer in case of any wildlife.  Lime juice to beat up with the yogurt as desserts with the blueberries. 

I'm thinking stir fries this week, thank you, Sandra, also various ideas involving chickpeas, cannellini beans and rice. 

And the box is now broken down and tied with string for the recycle. When it stops raining.

Happy day everyone. Some days we all feel a bit like the box, broken down, tied up. But there's always tomorrow.

Today's resistance 

Here's me wearing my American Patriot pea whistle, in resistance yellow, ready to distribute the others to anyone who needs to resist ICE. 

In Chicago they're being used to warn neighbors about ICE in the streets and to help intimidate and distract them.

If you know a community organizer who can use them, email me with contact details and I'll ship them, no strings.

Bugs, rags, Melissa and WCK

Thursday started out with an email from the condo mgt saying several condos in Handsome Son's building have found roaches. I don't think he has seen any, but every condo in the building must be inspected and possibly treated. 

Sooo, sighing deeply, I put in a call to Exterminator John who treated my house in the summer.  Always something. I'd just written a sizeable check for the HO insurance for the year. 

I texted Handsome Son requesting he check and do serious cleaning and decluttering. He's good about putting food away, but  very clutter prone. He hasn't seen any roaches. But they're sneaky fellers.

On to better news. More simple upcycling. This is the white shirt from The Box. After removing all these frilly bits

From everywhere, collar, shoulders, sleeves, someone went mad, this nice simple cotton shirt emerged 

Just iron and it's ready. I had tried it on to make sure it fits. It's labeled xs which I'm not, but their xs is more like s. It works.  Twenty minutes clipping, done. 

Two items down, two to go. One item needed nothing done to it, big t-shirt for nightwear. I need to shorten the pants, and decide what to do with the wraparound dress/tunic.

This box is proving a good thing.  Definitely has entertainment value beyond just shopping. 

Not entertaining is the loss of SNAP food support in the next couple of days. Now is when we all need to find out how to give practical help locally to emergency ministries, food banks, whatever is being set up.  My state assemblyman has set up a collection system to supply locations in Trenton with food and donated money.  

If you're not in the USA,  there's great need in Jamaica which took a direct hit from Melissa. World Central Kitchen is already on their way. They can use $$. 

Go to their website and follow from there

Happy day everyone, we can do what we can but it's still okay to enjoy, too.

 

Tuesday, Upcycling, Knitting Group, Textiles and Tea

Another great Tuesday unfolded. 

Morning included upcycling this piece from The Box. I just removed the skirt thing, and this was the result.

Then the Tuesday knitters had two new members and the return of last week's new member, who had been busy with her learning squares and circles.

New member doing some exciting visible mending on the lining of a leather jacket 

Two more bears being cut out. This makes me think of making a bear or two for the Rez kids using that extra fabric from the upcycled top. .

 Two members conferring about alterations to a WIP.

And here's a better picture of a wearer-made sweater in action.

Talk was great, with new members adding a lot. It ranged over embroidery, elder care, food needs, the local crisis ministry, beginning a craft,  making bears, wills, trusts, mammograms, garden ornaments, Friends of Pine Ridge, and more.

Textiles and Tea was about fine geometric weaving in cotton and fine silk kumihimo braiding. 

The guest is a great teacher! She had set up the background with her marudai loom on which she braids and had examples ready to hand, to illustrate her points. Such preparation.

Great presentation, and I am in awe of anyone able to master kumihimo braiding, having struggled to make a simple little braid using that disk you see above. My product didn't exactly look like these masterpieces of the form.  Check her website for more.

Happy day everyone! Weave, braid, knit, read, loaf, stroll, whatever the day calls for. 

Still my flag