Soup's up and the bathroom's done

It's soup weather and I made a pot of soup with all the vegetables, plus vegetable broth, flavored with Better than Bouillon, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, lemon juice, salt and pepper. It's very good. 

Chickpea, mushrooms, spinach, kale, carrots, potatoes, chives, onion and garlic. I think that's all the veg spectrum in a bowl.

And Contractor Mike finished up the bathroom, which, newly painted, partly tiled, bathtub in use now, is so much better.

That insert in the wall is one Mike installed years ago at my request. It pops out and gives access to the plumbing behind the shower in the other en suite bathroom.  I also had him create a couple of other access panels like this, to save sledging walls in a plumbing emergency.

The bathtub is officially open 

Here's the insert, ready for use. See how low the step is, very useful.

And here you see how he hung the shower curtain to hang low enough to catch splashes.

He did a lot of detail work, new door hinges and switch plates, new caulking round tub, toilet, door, vanity. He kept finding just one more thing to improve before he finally declared it done. He's a meticulous craftsman.

And to our payment meeting, he brought homebaked pumpkin bread and a hot baked sweet potato. He's the family cook and we snapped tips and hints while doing business.

Someone commented yesterday on how lucky I was to afford the changes in the house. Hm. The more frugal I am, the luckier I get.  

I've been saving for years for this. Then all the savings were wiped out when I had to replace the heat pump at the condo. 

I started saving again. Then I applied the proceeds from selling the car to this end, and all's well. More planning and saving than luck, I'd say.  But it's all good. If it looks effortless, that's fine.

Yesterday I found this little guy waiting to either get indoors or be stepped on. 

I moved him to safety and hibernation. 

And here's a glimpse of the kind of passing scene I love, created by early morning sun.

My fall and winter project arrived, from Gina B Silkworks, UK. I had pictures but removed them when I read the small print. She's had design theft, so I respect her patent. She has a YouTube channel if you want to see.

Tiny acrylic looms for creating woven leaf shapes.  I had thought of making them from cardboard, then decided it was better just to get the real thing and buy from an artisan. 

So watch this space. The little woven pouch I started will be finished soon. And these new tiny products are portable for the knitting group when I get there.

Happy day everyone. This about sums up where I am just now

 

Foraged oranges, pasta measuring, plumbing thoughts

Friday's walk was mild, and loud with birdsong, and Happy New Year to the concrete rabbit. I wonder if his hearing is affected by ear loss.

I found abandoned fruit on my walk, and brought home two oranges.

I'm allergic to (eating) oranges, and these look like the windfalls Sally Pointer used for bergamot boxes, so I figured they're worth a shot.  Anyway they came home with me. Watch this space for potential boxes.

At home I saw this van in my former parking spot, and took a picture because it reminded me of vague ideas about getting one of my bathtubs converted into a walk in shower.  

They were working next door and I may ask, if it was about renovating, if they liked the work.  I notice the van refers to bathroom renovation, rather than plumbing repairs.

Right now I have no problem stepping into the bathtub to shower, and don't need to sit.  But that day may come. I do have that sliding bench thing I used after surgery, but I wonder if renovation might be good. Aside from the $$$$ involved.

Anyway shortly after that, Gary came dashing in to find out if I had a plumbing emergency, was I okay. Not my house, I explained, not my monkeys. He had a couple of good suggestions about bathroom contractors but agreed about the $$$$ side. 

Today's cooking involved peanut butter granola bars, breakfast for a few days.

And I was looking at one of those handy hack videos and here's one I never noticed 

I never realized those openings are measuring devices for pasta. I thought they were drainage. I must try this.

And one thing you really need to avoid, in online shopping, is clicking the wrong tiny box on your screen.

Years ago I was trying to order one bottle of malt vinegar, my favorite, and instead got a lifetime supply of single serve packets of same. I gave quite a few to the food pantry, but still have more than enough.

I like malt vinegar on roast potatoes with chicken, so I'm frequently reminded about this ordering miss. And wonder if I have a malt vinegar SABLE. Supply Available Beyond Lifetime Expectancy. This usually applies to yarn.

Happy day everyone, there's worse things than too much vinegar.

Answers to two puzzles, lunch and knitting

I'm trying the idea of blogging in the evening, just as a change from writing in the morning, brain semi functioning, eyes not yet focused. Maybe evening will work better.

Today ze moment of trrrruth, the mystery next door is solved

I'd say that's conclusive evidence that they're renovating a bathroom. I rest my case.

And the carrot/lentil soup is beautiful, golden power soup,  part of an excellent lunch, here with pita bread filled with fresh spinach and mashed sardines in olive oil, handful of cherries to follow. 

 A different form of food is this book I just started

She's a serious knitter ss well as writer, who traveled about Britain researching knitting traditions and styles and trying them herself . 

Looking forward to this and hoping she doesn't retail any of the knitting myths which are constantly being Snoped and still circulating. 

Like the one about the women knitting special designs into their fishermen relatives' sweaters so as to identify them if they drowned.   

I mean, if that had been an issue, how much easier to knit in his name, as one myth exploder says! Too true, but people insist on romantic stories to the point of inventing them.

Anyway, on to the other puzzle which I think a number of people got, the eight letter word beginning and ending with ke.

KEEPSAKE.  It seemed impenetrable at first and I tried various hopeless words before it occurred to me. 

Debra and Tom are the lightning swift puzzlers around here, I think, over the horizon, while the rest of us are panting up the straightaway to the finish a bit later.

Happy day, or evening, everyone, may all your puzzles become self evident.

Oh, since everyone has been too exquisitely polite to ask if this virus which may, don't look now, be lifting, was maybe Covid, and had I had the sense to check: I did a home test. Negative. 

So I'm still a Novid. It's a nonCOVID virus, who knows what, possibly RSV. But thankfully going away now.