Good news, flower futures

This morning I got emails about the heddle and the lucet. The lucet shipper alerted me to a status change in my order. This is not usually good news, often meaning they can't do it, but this time the change was that it's shipped.  The heddle has been shipped USPS and will be a couple of weeks.. let's hope.

And last evening I was happy to revert to my favorite sock pattern, and did the toe area in no time. One stage procedure.

I don't know about the recipient, but the knitter is happy.

Yesterday also saw the prep for this year's flower garden. I'm waiting now for potting soil, but the plan is underway.

Indoors I planted some cotton seeds, and have some for knitting friends tomorrow.

After the picture I pushed them into the soil. They're in the kitchen till they germinate and I can transplant them outside. 

They get several feet tall, according to the friend who grew some in her community garden last year. These seeds were in the cotton bolls I carded and spun a while back to make the fiber and wire birds nest. 

I must remember to add it to the Easter decor.

Soon Handsome Son will be here with cheese and crackers and other good things. I have the vegetables ready to go.

Here's the cheese table

Happy day everyone, if you're in the hospital, get well wishes, if you're convalescing, get strong wishes, and if you're still seeking a diagnosis and treatment, get info wishes. 

Sez Ted and Big Ursy and Pony and Ursula 

Great Easter visit, haggard hawks puzzle

Yesterday's Easter celebration went very well, all the food worked out, the roast potatoes went over well enough to prove you can't make too many, and we ended up drinking tea and eating cookies, jellybeans and little chocolate eggs. Before, all looked calm and bright, unless I'm mixing the seasons.

Rain too heavy to go out and pick a couple of daffodils for the table, so the Easter cactus played their part. The rain seems to have stopped, though a lot of local roads are closed still. The tire arrived at the door last night, so when the roads are open, I can get it installed.

Meanwhile, I've got out my collection of copper and steel wire, ready for whenever the pinloom arrives. I have some ideas.

The weaver in wire also has a YouTube channel, following on our notes the other day 

 Are you up for a Haggard Hawks puzzle?

Happy day, everyone, our sun just came out, hope yours did in some sense, too.

Happy Easter, or just Sunday

 Happy Easter if you celebrate, and I do

For me it's not religious, since I don't practice any religion. But it's about culture and heritage, so I celebrate. I notice the historical /religious trappings without judging people who take them seriously, and we do it our way.

The weather is more wintry than springy

But we enjoyed our Easter dinner, no pictures because I was busy cooking and serving and in the middle of it, Gary showed up with containers to return that had had various good things I'd baked in them. 

He spotted handsome Son, greeted him and went away. He could hardly have guessed it was Easter dinner day, wrong day.

The ginger scallion sauce went over well and we decided it would be great with fish, maybe ham. But since I have cod in the freezer, I think that's going to be a pair.

The chicken was so well received that there are only scraps left, for a pita bread lunch today, filled with chicken and scalloped potatoes, broccoli and carrots. And there will be chicken soup. Of course.

A Gary visit happened while we were having Christmas dinner in mid January, too, same visit in the midst! 

I joked that he'd be back after Handsome Son left aaaaannddd, he was!!

With these, 

which I've put on Freecycle without much hope of a taker, considering recent events.

I texted handsome Son and he said no, say it's not another Barbie setup? Your house is going to look like a showroom. 

There's an endless source of entertainment with a neighbor like G. He's a lovely guy and I'm helping him find a program he can donate good suits to, for guys needing to look sharp while job hunting. He's retired and doesn't have a dress-up life now. He seems to be winnowing, too.

I did give him a program and a church/social action related neighbor to contact. He's always been a high earner and a great dresser, so someone's going to be lucky.

I did likewise years ago with the office -type wool and linen skirt suits I wore for presentations and events back in the day.  

The church/ social agency-affiliated thrift store I donated to instantly called a client my size. She was in urgent need of good interview clothes for jobs a step up from her current work. I asked them to keep the price as low as possible for her, which they agreed to do. 

Today I'm a bit creaky and tired with recent activity, so I'm going to loaf and listen to my latest audiobook mystery series

Offered free on YouTube by the author, who recorded a video intro to this one. They're entertaining stuff, mysteries on a cruise ship, different setting from the usual.  

Rachel is a terrific character, a police officer off duty on the cruise but able, karate black belt, to fight off bad armed guys in unarmed combat, yay! I seem to be quite militant today, one thing and another .

Happy day everyone, enjoy whatever your day is, live long and prosper!! Do the Spock hand signal. 

The moon of many names, Misfits and soap

We've had no sightings of the moon for a couple of days,  just rain and clouds, but here's the gen

And yesterday's Misfits box arrived, terrific service, carrier rang the bell, said, wait, too heavy for you, I'll put it inside the door

Usually they just leave it on the step

All present and correct this week, and just in time for today's easter dinner prep.

Look at this tree, disguised as Swiss chard, so beautiful

We're having chicken from the freezer, stuffed with lemon and roasted, scalloped red potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots, ginger scallion sauce. 

Handsome Son provides cheese and crackers to start, tiny chocolate eggs and jelly beans to finish, and soft drinks.

I partly roasted the chicken, microwaved and poached the potato slices in milk, 

then the milk became the base for the cheese sauce for the potatoes. Tomorrow the chicken and potatoes will finish cooking in the oven as we eat our cheese and crackers.

Now to lay the table, throwing the cloth over the current puzzle in progress.

And here's the upshot of yesterday's soap making. Once cooled, it foamed nicely when whipped a bit, 

so I strained it into a handy container 

and set it on the shelf above the washing machine ready for the next laundry day.

Happy day everyone, enjoy your weekend whatever your plans.  Support friends in Tennessee fighting the good fight. A couple of mine are on the front lines.

Easter happened, fencing too.

 Lovely Easter celebration.

Table ready for company

Coffee table set up for cheese and bread sticks, later for dessert.

Menu cheeses, havarti and Gouda and bread sticks. Then ham, cheese roasted yellow potatoes, broccoli and carrots, steamed and buttered. Dessert Niagara candy eggs, jelly beans, sugar cookies, pot of tea.

Last night's storm flattened the daffodils, which I picked to make our centerpiece.

Meanwhile outside in a bitter wind the fence workers assembled the fence, gate yet to come. 

One tiny hitch, as you see, the new gate will be set far over from the old one. This means some gardening adjustment to come, moving plants which will be in the path of the new gate. Oh.

I still don't like the boxed in feeling of the new fence, but those workers are truly great.

Working  8-6, never stopping, carrying heavy sections of fence, wielding posthole diggers, all heavy manual labor. Half an hour for lunch, sitting on a stack of my old fence sections, cheerful, such a good crew. Hats off.

While handsome Son was here, we found and labeled the breaker for the range, so if I need to reset, I easily can. 

And the current sock is a cheerful one, too. Buzzy stripes.

Lovely day today.

Happy day everyone!

Easter yet to happen here, catch-up, and Franklin Habit's vlog

Today is about setting the table, organizing food and looking forward to tomorrow's celebration of Easter. A little out of step as usual because of Handsome Son's work schedule, but it will be good.

Meanwhile winter seems to have returned.

I was out walking yesterday in bright sun, but quickly fastened my coat and put up the hood, because of stiff icy winds.  Deceptive from inside the house. But as Mary and Ellen would agree, you need to keep moving in order to be able to keep moving.  Even a couple of days off and my legs feel soooo tired, but strength soon comes back.

Meanwhile s couple of updates: the paper tubes have proved to be too much for my hands to manage. I didn't have newspaper so I used catalog type pages, all I had. I think newspaper is vital, soft enough to manipulate. So next time the local shopper comes, I'll try it again.  The tubes will become beads, possibly for a doorway. Anyway they're away safely, nothing wasted.

The other update is the progress of the garlic scapes

No commentary needed here.

Last night I made a cafe au lait, using a filter made into a coffee bag, like a teabag. 

It worked okay once it started. I wonder if coffee bags exist and if they're ground coffee like this or instant. Coffee doesn't usually affect my sleep but last night was all about reading and tossing. But the moon was brilliant, so that may be another reason. Beautiful moon, bitter cold, clear sky.

And I finished these, sincee my paper crafting us in hiatus

Already into the next, a narrow stripe of black and beigy color, tres raffine, insert your own accent there over the e. As I use up the supplies, there may be more narrow stripes in future, possibly multiple colors.

And if you're not familiar with teacher and knitter also crocheter and sewing expert and spinner Franklin Habit's vlog, yesterday he posted a wonderful one about a stitchery gala he attended recently. He's moved from Chicago to Paris and is getting right into the textile art scene there.

Here's a taste of the Aiguille en Fete 

Anyway he's a lovely guy, very entertaining, very encouraging to people at all levels of expertise or interest, take a look. He's crocheting while he talks, in his Paris apartment. 

Late breaking news. Fence Demolition has started