Getting to spring

It's only February, and the beech leaves are still hanging in that pale gold a wonderful sight all winter

Yesterday I got out walking in bright sunshine, after a couple of days of rain and mud got in the way. And in a sheltered spot, the early daffodils are already up, a month before I expected to see them.

Back home my faithful chives are coming through for the umpteenth year in this pot, with no care at all other than to cut them when needed. Seeing them  reminds me I haven't made paneer in a while. I like a few scraps of chive on paneer.

And here are the snow drops, struggling, tiny blooms, but there, just a few of the dozens I planted

 

It's still cold enough for the rotini and spaghetti sauce I mentioned yesterday

 

Happy day, everyone, and here's a thought from the creator of Pogo

I'm writing this early, in bed, just considering the opportunities of the day. Maybe a walk. Reading more of A Few Green Leaves. Knitting. Reading a poem. Making yogurt. Possibly,  if I  can't decide, all of the above.

Happy diwali and rugs

Happy Diwali, the Feast of Lights. All up and down my street houses are decorated with lights of all colors.

Dear old friends, former neighbors, texted to check I was home, and dropped in briefly on their way to a Diwali party for a hug and to give me a little bag of homemade treats. Great surprise!

 Earlier there was a Hajji Baba Club and Textile Museum of Southern California joint presentation on Persian rugs by a collector and writer on this art form.

He discussed the contrast between the sophisticated urban life style, where workshop rugs were created,  and the simple lives of nomads who created equally wonderful works with simple spinning and weaving setups. 

You'll see nomad tents, a woman spindle spinning wool -- rugs often cotton warp, wool weft -- and the kind of simple looms which demand great skill on the part of the weaver.

There's a lot of interest in depicting animals, including the two headed motif, which is also created in bronze artworks as well as featuring in textiles. 

The movie is about the nomad life, I believe and here's the address if you're interested in following up.

There an S formation, seen in different designs in its own slide above, found in  a lot of borders, which is a version of the two headed animal or bird.

The last slide shows Opie with friends in a rug gallery, clearly happy campers! As usual with this kind of collector's presentation, there were dozens of great slides, so I winnowed it down to a manageable number for a blogpost, with enough information for you to continue learning if the spirit moves you.

Earlier in the day, I found one of my favorite sights, a beech tree with its own foliage shadowed on the  silvery smooth trunk.

Happy day, everyone! Enjoy the lights everywhere. Including yours, the one you shed.

Boxing Day

One of my aunts, born in the 1890s, used to refer to all Christmas presents as Christmas boxes. They didn't have to be in a box. In fact a bonus in the pay would be a Christmas box. And Boxing Day was when an employer would hand them over. 

So here's Maggie Rudy's take on the Christmas box sweater,  knitted by grandma, with plenty of room for growth, tried on with dismay by the little mouse, while mom cautions him to say nowt, because she understands.

And today being a wonderful mild sunny day, walking happened. So did Christmas boxes from nature.

Here's one, a silver dime on a gold beech leaf

And here are favorite scenes, shadows falling on beech trees, that grey silk trunk like a drawing surface

This beauty appreciation is all very well, but first the inner woman was attended to.

The Christmas Eve cod steak was as good as I'd hoped - very. Lovely flakes, just baked enough. Cayenne pepper. Bed of spinach, carrots and scallions. Buttered boiled Yukon gold potatoes.  

Years since I had decent cod. Locally, in the northeast US,  the fish preferences of the population are more exotic than the north Atlantic fish I grew up on, in northeastern Yorkshire, cod, herring, haddock, skate. They're pretty rare.  

But Misfits market has added in cold pack ordering which makes fish and meat possible in the Misfits box in addition to produce. This is my first trial of the fish option, expensive and worth it. 

Then today came the planned cod cakes. Flaked cod, left from Christmas Eve, mixed with several veggies, Old Bay seasoning, egg beaten in, Panko breading, baked.

Fancy bit of Thai basil, growing in a pot in the kitchen, glass of ginger ale 

Dessert was German tiny cookies and a drop of eggnog.

Speaking of potatoes, which we were back there, 

here are Yukon gold potatoes, planted as peelings, growing like maniacs in a pot in the living room. Bringing the outdoors indoors. I did get a couple of accidental potatoes in a pot upstairs, so we'll see if these deliberate ones work out.

Not long before I can go on a witch hazel blossom hunt. Even before snowdrops.

It's all go!