Concierge Misfits, tiny bouquet, silk art

The seasons seem to be colliding, not unusual for this time in this region.

So I nipped out and picked the really last tiny bouquet of the year.

Jeff the Misfits Driver, is now giving me personal concierge delivery. He rang the doorbell, and asked where was best for the box indoors. This is above and beyond, so my appreciative words to HQ must have got back to him. Nice guy. 

Strawberries to go with the yogurt, and now Chris has told the story behind Chobani, I'm happy to buy it when it's available. Next week my old standby is back though.

Apples are the usual midmorning snack, one of those habits that get permanent. The cream cheese was one of those sold out items I put on my wait-list and got lucky. Excellent on that seedy oaty bread. The birds like the bread, because I shake out the emptied bag and they get the seeds left in it.

The cold brew coffee is an experiment, to see if it works hot, too. And as a possible flavor in baking.  The fudge brownies are just because it's been an exciting and tiring few days, or some such malarkey.

Bananas are for breakfasts on toasted seedy bread. 

And I made a giant quiche, not much cheeses available, so it's Parmesan and feta cheese, with a lot of scallions, garlic, kale and spinach and the usual ten eggs. I reheat by broiling for a minute or two, really good. This week my cheeses are available again so I'm stocking up in my next order.

I also made a large pot of soup, using broth from the chicken, and a lot of the three bean salad plus potatoes and chicken pieces. Between this and the quiche, the week's meals are fast food.  The three bean salad and dressing worked fine as soup ingredients.

I'm so pleased with the bathtub. Contractor Mike tells me the tiling and painting will be done by end of day Wednesday. 

Door in place but not screwed down 

Door out, in the usual way I'll use it. I tried stepping in, and that step means only a small distance to raise my foot, and I can put both feet on the step. Inside there's enough height that the shower curtain will contain the water.

Meanwhile the stair-lift is in use carrying stuff up. I needed to take the filled gallon containers of water from outside before frost gets here, and they needed to be available for the upstairs plants, which I'm terrible at watering. 

So the chair carried them up for me, so easy. I can carry one in each hand but it's not a good idea to climb stairs without holding on to a rail.

While I was upstairs setting up the water, I remembered Ellen was asking about examples of how the silk transferred images worked. So I found these, all hanging around upstairs. 

This is a silk transfer of a scan of sashiko stitching and a painting, overlaid images.

Here the appliqued dancing shapes are cut from a silk transfer. They're appliqued onto a silk square I dyed.

Parts of these soft sculptures are pieces of image dyed silk. There's also molded and painted handmade paper. 

So there's a few of the ways I used the fabric. Collectors now own some artworks with pieces collaged and stuffed, in hanging works. 

It occurs to me now that if any US blogistas (sorry, can't run to out of country shipping) want either of the 2D pieces as a little present, let me know. The sculptures can't travel, though.

Meanwhile I'm eagerly awaiting some new really tiny looms from an English artisan for a different experiment in weaving. Also two more clamps from the Woolery for more successful long warp weaving with the frame loom.

It's all good. I couldn't get the Mary Pipher book on aging Pixie mentioned, but I did read Women Rowing North.

It's easy reading, anecdotal, with ideas you can think about and try on for size. I'd recommend it if you're comfortable with the Noah's Ark mindset. 

Meaning the assumption that everyone has a partner, and that singles ought to just get.on and get one. She gives almost no recognition to the large and growing population of single ageing women and the issues they face. 

Some are widowed, some divorced, some never partnered. Their lives and plans are very different from the partnered, particularly straight partnered, who seem to comprise the world she's addressing.  And most of her subjects are statistically likely to be alone in their last years.

But given that caution, there's still quite a bit of value in reading it. I wondered if she'd written this back in her Ophelia book days, explaining how dated it is, but, no, pub date 2019. So I did give her a fair try.

Anyway, happy day, pick out the parts of books and life that work for you and go for it. 

Sez Ted and Big Ursy and Pony and Ursula