Finally, bread, Tuesday knitting group, Textiles and Tea

The endless cold rainy weather finally pushed me to making bread. Yesterday's soup, of tomatoes, chicken and chickpeas, in a broth of chicken and dandelion greens, needed an accompaniment.

So here's whole-wheat, AP and chickpea flour, big loaf to cut into four, three now in the freezer. 

It's got great flavor and you see a nice dense texture. The crust is crisp, not hard. This is so much better than the bread I bought for several weeks till I got my baking mojo back. One slice is as satisfying as a couple of the air filled shop loaves, even though they were wholegrain with seeds and good stuff.

This is helping with my current struggle with being a civilian again, no medical people hovering and advising and encouraging, neighbors off high alert.  There's a lonely re-entry phase and it's not easy. 

The drama's over, things are pretty smooth, and all the people have gone away again. I wonder if old people who often consult doctors are in need of personal attention as much as medical guidance.  Anyway, I knew there would be a letdown and it's here. 

It's made room to be more distraught about the endless bad political news, so I need a new coping strategy. I'll let you know if I find one. 

Activism I always have, and here's where I remember to say thank you to readers, particularly new and helpful commenters. 

You are more important to my mental health than you know. Much more, particularly the good humored people, who, despite their own struggles, are still generous enough to encourage me.

I continue to be a bit accident prone, in the style of the Three Stooges. Today's feat: I managed, while rinsing a cup, to aim about a pint of water up my bathrobe sleeve, then when I looked down at it, it poured back over my feet. So by seven am I'd already changed to a second, dry, robe and socks.  This wasn't the coping strategy I had in mind.

But this sustaining lunch was a good step 

Cod baked with butter, salt and black pepper, with fresh apricots, celery including clippings of foliage from the celery heart growing in the kitchen.

Today's Tuesday knitting group was my reentry! Welcomed back by old friends, and there were three new people all wanting to learn. So, our usual great teacher absent on family business, two of us heroically offered to teach crochet. They were all adept and it was a fun session.  So good to be back.

In the foreground, my crocheting staggers on

Lovely stitch pattern for a headband.

In between learning and showing, talk ranged over antique dolls, garage sales, Indian embroidery, grandchildren, weather, flying with knitting needles, the Dollivers, "Amelie", and more. 

Then home to  Textiles and Tea with Johanna Norry,  who works in collaborative and solo weaving,  with photography, examining personal and social history.  She's a professor of textiles with degrees both in textiles and anthropology.

two collaged family photographs of the same people, different times

A relative whose figure was described more than the crime she was accused of, a social commentary.

This is an indigo painted piece, woven ikat style

here's one of my favorite techniques, clasped weft, dramatic results but simple in execution, a collaborative pair.

This is a cross stitch selfie, 6" x4", with about 100 hours of work in it. She designed it with an app then stitched the result.

here are photographs of her daughter and her, woven together and paired with a collaged weaving

Happy day, everyone. Mine certainly was.