Misfits and dyed cotton

I took the cotton out of the dye bath this morning, figuring 24 hours was going to be as much take up as it would get. 

As you see, pink with some areas whitish, but good enough. Now it's drying and I'll check around for what to use for the basket structure. I have a couple of ideas.

I tried these grasses but decided they were too wild for the cotton, so they've got their own place now 

And I'll continue looking and thinking. 

Misfits is delayed by weather, hence Friday not Thursday. 

But I have food in the house to deal with delays.

And Ronald showed up as scheduled, and seized the opportunity of an open parking slot all shoveled out, to stage his van and make the next few deliveries easier.  Mostly he's stuck out in the street, no open spots. I noticed he was keeping the bananas with him in the cab, not freezing in the loading area, so that's appreciated in this zero f weather.

Missing in action were yogurt and strawberries, which they'd notified me about, and one loaf which they hadn't.  I'll live.

Canned goods for the food pantry, green beans because it's a long time since I had any, broccoli because it's the other green I like, a change from spinach, grated cheese because no block Cheddar available, I don't like the additive that stops it clumping, but once won't hurt. 

Scallions for an interesting thing I plan with the tofu and ginger, diced tomatoes with no salt, shared with the food pantry, blackberries as a change from blueberries, apples for daily mid morning snack. 

Shrimp, it's a long time again, and I may make mayo, long time there, too, to go with shrimp. My best shrimp salad is just shrimp and homemade mayo, with buttered whole wheat. I don't get carried away!

So that's the food today, despite missing items, still a nice selection for the week and more.

About my recent slump. I realize now since I looked at the calendar, that it was the anniversary of my favorite brother's death in combat, age 20. 

I was six, so long ago, but my parents never recovered, and even the return of my other two brothers from combat didn't make a big difference. I think your body remembers trauma, maybe forever. That day past, my energy is better.

Happy day everyone, hoping and working for better days for us all. 

Chicken, microseasons and the Land of Abeyance

So yesterday the chicken, only two pounds but a lot of meat on a little frame, did me proud.

There's a lot more meat for various plans involving chicken salad, soup, potpie (thanks to Debra). Definitely doing this again. 

Tender, very good quality. I roasted it slowly for juiciness, don't care about crisp skin since I don't eat it anyway. Basted with the butter I'd dotted about. The herbs on top are sage flowers from my sage that tried for world domination during the heatwave last summer. 

Today is marginally warmer but the icy wind kept me down to a couple of recycling and mailbox walks, not the real one I hope for this week.

I noticed I just missed the opening of the Japanese micro 72 season year.

You may remember a while back, I started a microseason log, to try to deal with the upcoming winter.

I used a book I'd made, with, appropriately,  a Japanese stab binding construction, and set up sections for each microseason.

I tapered off when the entries seemed to be too repetitive. It's in abeyance, maybe once the change of season gets under way more evidently, I'll resume it.

Also in abeyance is my Arabic study.

This is the result of the Striking Virus which did a job on my thinking ability, just fog. When I get to where it comes back, I'll be back, too. The spirit is willing but the brain is tottering.

The Land of Abeyance is an old joke dating back to a convo with an artist wondering why our artist group hadn't exhibited or even met recently. I said "I think it's in abeyance." 

Whereupon she said indignantly, straight faced, "Nobody told me they'd planned a trip! Why wasn't I invited? You  seem to know all about it!".  Really upset, total FOMO on display.

I had to explain. 

Speaking of Arabic, when I mentioned my brother Kevin recently, I searched unsuccessfully for a picture, must have given it to Handsome Son, but in this repository of special stuff, literally the only thing I inherited from my parents 

Found this, 

Left, Kev's self teaching of Russian. He must have been a teenager, since he died at 20 in the Fleet Air Arm, ww2.  I wonder if this urge to self teach, especially foreign languages with different alphabets, is in the DNA.

On the right is a bit of fern from sister Rita's wedding bouquet, from 1953.

The book itself was a standby in my house. My mother bought it on weekly payments, because she believed a house needed a dictionary. This was in the 1930s, when the older ones were all in school. She couldn't afford both a vacuum cleaner and the dictionary, so she went for the dictionary.

I think that was heroic, considering her workload with a large family and no appliances, not even a washing machine. Walking the walk.

I read this dictionary cover to cover when I was sick in bed, which probably helped develop a vocabulary out of all expectation from a little kid. My older sisters told me I was reading at three, so by six and seven I guess I was equal to at least going for it.

Anyway if we've recovered from the Great Tiebreak Debate, are you up for a puzzle?

And speaking of little kids and winter

I remember the roast chestnut man coming around in winter, roasting the chestnuts on hot coals in his vehicle thing, selling them in a wrap of paper, gosh they were hot, and so good.

Happy evening everyone, may you manage to pull your chestnuts out of the fire in good time, metaphorically and literally, big dictionary words..