Ice cream boots and Alan Bennett

Too hot to be out much today other than watering flowers, and recycling, so I did exciting laundry and dishes, glad I'd got out walking recently. 

Today's about boots for Pink Rabbit, approved by her and in ice cream colors. Summer boots. Resistance boots.

Who knew I'd come to this? My hands are holding up pretty well to crochet and I'm needing to weave again. The warp weighted loom is on hold till cooler weather, another heatwave being promised next week.

Before the heatwave arrives,  Handsome Son is driving me to the dentist to complete the coronation.

 Then, while we're in the neighborhood, we're taking a trip we've been meaning to take for about a year, to the thriftie. I must remember to get cash ahead. I don't actually need anything other than a bigger teapot, but you never know.

The flowers are doing well but the split leaf isn't. I've now pushed it under the shade of the butterfly bush, because it's looking sun burned though I thought it was in shade. I may have to do some heavy pruning, but not till the weather cools.

Meanwhile the perennial black eyed susans are getting on fine with the visiting coleus, there's a meaning there.

The susans were rescues when a neighbor left, before the new owner finished ripping out the flowers to make the walkway neat. They're pretty robust, to have survived that,  and living with aggressive pachysandra. 

And the coleus is a descendant of a packet of seeds several years ago which has supplied several gardens and neighbors with plants. I think they're related to the mint family. Judging by their will to live, I'd say it's likely. Also that there's not much repeat business in coleus seeds.

This afternoon I found Alan Bennett monologues on YouTube, wonderful acting, do check.

I'm in search of more, because the acting is superb.

Thank you to the loyal blogistas who signed up and even show up at Boud's Glimpses. It's so cool, a new adventure using the tech equivalent of two cans and a piece of string. 

But I usually like the most primitive way of doing anything, why should this be different.

Happy day everyone, keep cool or warm as needed. But better take advice from someone who's not knitting boots for rabbits. I mean, people, who are you going to trust?

 We got this. Nineteen states, now including mine,  have now won their case against the feds suing to get voter information. 

States 19, feds 0.

And there's so many more victories that you won't see in the oligarch media.  Spirits up!

 

Improving the shining hour

This morning was planned for PT but Therapist Emil got stuck in Philadelphia with something that overran its schedule. So I got a free morning.

Which I put to good use, baking a cake and roasting those chicken drumsticks.

This is Beatrice's lemon cake with some changes. I didn't have lemon zest so I used lime zest. Saved on eggs by using aqua faba, quarter cup per egg. And as you see, it came out fine

Very tender because it uses oil -- I used avocado, which is very good at lightening baked goods. And the lime zest worked lovely. Nice flavor.  See the dense crumb here, where I sliced the (cook's privilege) first piece.

A couple of neighbors will help me with this. And thank you Beatrice!

The drumsticks took advantage of the stove already being hot, just oil, some ground kosher salt with seasonings, and basil and salt.

This will be good when I need a drumstick with this evening's crisp roasted cheesy potato dice.

Lovely gentle rain overnight for the first houseplant I put out, the coleus swinging and looking happy.

The sage is budding up now, before bursting out in purple blossoms.

And buds are starting on the rose which I think was planted by birds 

I'm not seeing any signs of life on the hibiscus, but this time last year I didn't either and it bust out some great flowers later.

Happy day everyone, bust a move, it's Friday!

Sez Ted 

Travel, it's not just about moving around.

Lately I've been hearing a lot about travel, usually meaning coach tour tourism, from people who love it, good for them, and are quite rude about people who don't, not so good for them.

I've had to travel a lot for work and life, and find it tiring and disturbing, not fun and games. It's not related to vacation, really. Some of my best trips have been to familiar local places which don't yield exciting stamps on my passport.

The travel I love is the interior kind, from making, creating, thinking,  reading, paying attention to the lives of other people. It's not about throwing your body around then boring your friends rigid with accounts of holdups in airports, ripoffs conducted in foreign languages, total mileages, you know these well enough to set them to music!

One of my friends who'd traveled in the form of staying long enough to pay rent, receive mail and make friends -- it helps if your job is portable like this -- used to say she didn't count it as travel unless you had a street address, not the American Express office, for mail delivery, an interesting definition. 

So this is where I am this mild rainy Sunday.

In other news, I find that the second spiral sock, several inches of which is done

as you see, turns out to be a different gauge from sock one. I evidently picked up smaller needles when I cast it on, chatting in my group. Oh.  Given how I'll do anything rather than unravel, I now have various decisions. 

Door One. I can continue, making this the first one of a yet another new pair. Door Two.  I can use bigger needles to knit yet another sock,  matching the size to the first sock. Door Three. I can replace two of the current needles on the current sock with bigger ones, to maybe adjust the gauge gradually. At this rate I'll never get away from this @#$% yarn, unless I open Door Three.

Door Three it is. If this doesn't work I may give up everything and buy a ticket to a round the world cruise, just to escape.. Or something.

And the coleus, started in water, is now potted up ready to grow for the winter indoors before moving outside next spring

This is not my garden, it's a shot from a flower show 

Happy day everyone, prayers and vibes and good thoughts to the poor folk in North Carolina who'd give anything right now to just worry about a bit of knitting.

To improve lives in Florida, please, Florida friends, note this when you vote

Neighbors, a two way street

I often note the help Gary gives me, and it occurs to me that you may not realize how much this is a two way activity, involving my being roped in to assist with projects, and my stuff traveling next door for various reasons.

Currently at Gary's house:

My outdoor path sweeping brush

My box  cheese grater

My stepladder

My glass container

Another container

All will return eventually.  

Meanwhile, for him I'm Freecycling these

Back in the kitchen, a fast food lunch One can good diced tomatoes, no use using fresh in winter, they're like red plastic, one can cannellini beans, rinsed, egg broken over, baked together 20minutes at 385°f.

Mini naan, soft Indian bread, to make sure all the sauce is accounted for.

Then these cookies, using chickpea flour instead of ap which is why they look golden when baked

caraway seeds on top. This is a Home on the Range old recipe brought up to date. 

I took a few over next door and found myself taking pictures of the free cycle items to organize for him, then pruning the big fig plant that was taking over the living room. Then giving an opinion of possibly framing a painting on canvas.

I brought home a couple of prunings to start in water

and you see them in front of the wash stand, on which is the coleus I brought in in October. I've pruned the top, and I'll propagate for more coleus outdoors this summer.

 Meanwhile, among this headlong rush, The Pant is done, here seen front, tilted to show how it works

and back. A bit of finishing and it's done. It fits a treat, though I'm resisting my local knitting group's pressure to model it -- in a meeting room with glass walls, open to the main library floor, yesh!

Happy day everyone! Raining today, but the bag of freecycled fabric is being picked up anyway this afternoon, probably colliding with the Misfits delivery.

NADM!