The snowstice

 Here's what we woke to on the morning of the solstice. About three inches overnight.

Beautiful and I don't have to go out in it!

Out front my glass ornament which I forgot to bring in before the snow, is a dot of color.

Lovely indoor time working on gloves, listening to a well narrated Horowitz, while outside workers are shoveling and sanding the walkways. 

Cream soup with a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Someone swept the snow off my car, so nice. I ran the engine for a few minutes while I checked the mail and consigned it, the junk mail,  to the recycle.

Happy day everyone, whichever Solstice you're celebrating.

More dolls, and a pattern

 I realized I could post the pattern for the Izzy doll, so here goes

If you (can) read the bottom para you'll understand the construction.

You can Google on Izzy doll to see its poignant history. Please note, Izzy's mother made her pattern universally free and available for dolls to give to children in crisis, not just cute toys. And always to be given, not sold nor bartered. 

And here's where I am with this group 

Aiming for half a dozen to get in the mail next week.  The person who will distribute them is eagerly waiting now.

And friend C. is coming through with more small quantities of various colored yarns, just right. Possibly also for stripey socks for the Sock 'n Glove Ministry, we'll see. And for the use of beginners at the two libraries I go to for knitting groups. 

Lunch today is a bowl of lentil carrot soup with fresh spinach wilted in, followed by chocolate cherries. All food groups in attendance.

In the course of looking for audio to accompany knitting, I came across an old favorite, QI.

 I also  found another advantage to hearing aids: I can get all their jokes now, not just some. Highly recommend.

Happy day everyone, my power company tells me I'm one of the most economical customers in my house size and (house) age. Yay me. 

The national airport waiting room

The whole country feels as if we're in an airport waiting room, idea I swiped from online. It's a time when everything's about waiting, calories don't count and treats are in order. 

We don't know which direction we'll be going after Tuesday's votes, and we've done all we can to ensure success for the good fight we're fighting against fascism. 

There are safeguards in place against election denial and violence.  This will not be a repeat of the chaos of 2020, when we had a President fomenting trouble instead of an intelligent administration managing it and keeping the peace.

Meanwhile I'm breathing, snacking,  walking, watching Trollope and listening to Trollope -- many parallels to today's shenanigans in Trollope. And knitting. I haven't done any making for days, one thing and another.

So here's where we are 

Whatever happens, and I daren't be more than cautiously optimistic, after the trauma of 2016, at least my people will get their gloves and socks.

Happy waiting day, everyone, breathe, knit, and if you are eligible to vote and haven't yet done so, please do. 

In the hope of a Harris win I have a couple of screenshots to celebrate. And Tuesday night I'm in a watch party with my Kamala pearls and chucks, with online friends.

Monday night, another meeting with Christopher Bouzy's most recent political maps of the current state of play, with votes already cast. He has a great record of knowledgeable observation and forecasting.

Meanwhile

 

Thoughts on touch, and other vital issues

I read today about hugging, touching, getting a massage and yet again feel like the little match girl outside the shop window. I hate casual touching, can't bear the thought of a massage, and hug sparingly.  

I come from a family who don't grab each other to show their bonding, and I think it may be an inherited trait, maybe in the DNA.  I cringe at the concept of the pedi!

There's pressure around this, around the notion that all humans need touch to thrive, and that touch is  healing. Maybe so, but it's on a scale, I'm guessing. I've been told outright that there's something wrong with people like me. Oh, no!

My need is minimal. During the pandemic when we weren't touching at all if possible,  some people really suffered withdrawal.  I only fleetingly missed it, in fact I was hugely relieved not to have to duck out of hugging and  friendly handshakes.  I'm a believer in consent -- your need to touch me doesn't supersede my need for you not to!

I think it's related to touch sensitivity. A hand on my arm is like an electric shock, unless I'm reciprocating. Interesting thoughts, and yours are welcome, too,  including disagreement if it's considerate and not dismissive. 

Moving on, today is a better energy day, after several naps yesterday and a full night's sleep. I think I'm very lucky there, from what I hear of people for whom sleep is a rare and wonderful event. Being relatively pain free is a big part of it, lucky there, too. 

I think the free weight exercising I've done for years probably helped there. My rheumatologist, who's actually my bone doctor, tells me it's very likely it kept the joints jointed.

Meanwhile, the cosmos are still blooming away, whipped around in the fall wind,  they don't care, what an example. All the other flowers are finished, so the remaining butterflies and bees are crowding onto the cosmos, last chance around for pollen. They're practically handing out numbers.

And good news on the tipping I reported to management recently: one lot of junk around the lovely hollow tree has been removed, and the other, the boxes and furniture spilling everywhere, is clearly in the process. They're even emptying the patio.

 So I emailed my thanks to the manager.  He'll have a pleasant email to come in to tomorrow.

And here's a couple of thoughts

Happy day, everyone! Pick the thoughts you like and go with them, judgment-free zone in operation!

One thought I went with was the National Popular Vote issue. My state, NJ, already uses the popular vote for President, not the electoral college. 

I emailed my state legs.  to encourage their continuing support. Rather than try to abolish the EC, better put workarounds in place to render it irrelevant. We need more states to do this.  Just sayin. And here's how:

White Rabbits, gold medals and a lotus

August, Lammastide, wheat harvest soon. Happy season, everyone.

And here's great Olympic news, there's a lot, but this is my pick

Real grown women! Not the little girls we used to see before the Olympic committee came to their senses and installed new minimum age limits.  Women's gymnastics for women!

Handsome Son visiting today, so there's chocolate cake and lemonade all set. 

Also strawberries and chocolate almonds.

He's having a good summer, with the shore and concerts and general fun. He can handle hot weather. That makes one of us.

Just a footnote about good neighbors. We are original owners in this development, bought our unit from the builders. So this friendly atmosphere is what we helped build and encourage. 

It's the result of significant reaching out and helpfulness on our part, too. Like a lot of other good things, it didn't come about by chance.  We were the white family welcoming Black and Indian new neighbors and encouraging other white owners to do likewise. 

We were out and about being safe people to ask things, to help people fathom their water shutoffs and other built-in builder's mysteries, and for people who had never had a fireplace, how to proceed safely. All that. 

 

So yes, it's lovely. And it's no accident. Just sayin'. Not throwing bouquets at myself, just saying it's always a two way street. The harder you work, the luckier you get. 

I'm reaping the reward now, from people who saw what I went through in the caregiving years, now being protective and kind to me in my own old age.  I know you can reach out and never reap any reward, perfectly true. But it's wonderful when it happens.

Thursday is my Misfits box day. Getting ready to wash and prep a lot of produce. My least favorite part, but it's how I make sure ingredients are ready to cook. It's insurance, so I don't feel too tired to cook! If it's halfway there, so much easier to cook the rest of the way. It helps me avoid the tea and toast routine of tired old people.

Time for Nancy yogurt, since my own has been getting thinner, it needs a boost. The last few spoons of this will be the next starter.

I always love to see these brown eggs, with real shells, golden firm yolks. A boiled egg with a toasted slice of that seedy, grainy bread is a great small supper.

Strawberries and chocolate almonds, because why not.  All set for easy hot weather food.

Potato harvest is in!

 Yesterday I decided it was time for Tattie Liftin'. Meaning harvesting my container of potatoes. It's more an annual ritual than a meal, tiny new yellow potatoes.

Since I'd found some peppermint, I was able to make a mint sauce. People who eat lamb like it together. I don't eat lamb, but it's great with newly collected baby potatoes. Pat of butter and your world is complete. And the rest of the potatoes will be roasted in the toaster oven today. 

Mint sauce is just peppermint chopped fine, pinch of sugar, malt vinegar, no other vinegar need apply. 

I planted eyes from a couple of sprouting potatoes in the kitchen 

Watch this space.

Later in the evening Gary came over to get some help with houseplants and while we were at it, I gave him a snake plant leaf and we planted the sections in two small pots. He's been wanting to do this for ages. It's a plant that connects our families.

I took care of the original parent plant for his daughter's mother, one summer on my patio, years back, when I had enough shade to put out houseplants. 

I kept one leaf -- rent!-- from which grew the big snake plant now in the library. From that I'd grown another. And from that third generation came the current leaf, which will go into his little granddaughter's room. So she'll have a plant from her grandmother, via a winding path.

And here's my plan for the day, read

And

Happy day, everyone. Just be.

New stitching to happen

I wrote two posts yesterday, and there still seems to be a lot of material to write about, so here's the interim, before Tuesday Knitting Group and Textiles and Tea. It's all go.

Here's the stitched fabric book idea, which I think will improve the former wall hanging, and the complicated schema for the pages. 

It's a slot and tab design -- tab pages slide through slot pages, very clever. 

Ann Wood is to be credited here.This will be a Kawandi experiment, too, quilting spontaneously done. Like many beautiful textile arts, it has a sad history, and I am adapting and using ideas with humility, honoring the Siddi people of India 

What this quotation doesn't mention is that the Siddi were enslaved, forcibly brought to India. This art is theirs. I'm only trying it as a beginner, with gratitude. It's exactly what I like to do, and they've made it a high art.

And there will be embroidered pages with favorite stitches, just walking around with thread.

Here are my starting pages 

Yes I cut it up from the back. Destruction precedes creation.

It's good to have a bit of stitching to pick up when I feel like a bit of stitching. Stitchers know that need.

And this week, birthdays of Shakespeare, Hitler and my Auntie Kitty. She could have handled Hitler, no problem. Not sure about Shakespeare, though she could quote him. Left school at 12, people did then, never stopped learning.

Throughout all, there's the best dinosaur of all 

And, now and then, I post chalked street images made by David Zinn. Here's him at work

Happy day, everyone, enjoy whatever you're making or watching or reading or working on. It's all good.