Lily King, kitchen moves and dyers to the world

I just finished Writers and Lovers, the Lily King novel, which blew me away. I can't believe a novel about writers, among other tragedies, could be this gripping.  I usually find writers writing about publishing so exciting, nearly as good as grating carrots. 

But she's no everyday writer. She's powerful and I really recommend you read this.  I'll look for more of her work. 

This came out a few years ago, and it looks as if she brings out a new novel every few years, so I'm hoping there's another soon. She crafts sentences that just come at you, and knock your breath out.

Gary was reclaiming his plants this morning, very happy about how they managed in his absence, especially the snake plant that finally got going.  And he pruned large sections of his butterfly bush, because that too had flourished to the point where he had to stoop to walk under it.

He's thrilled with my morning glories, and I'm hoping for seeds so he can start some too.  And now he's thinking about a hibiscus, after seeing mine. If he has room.

I've started moving things out of the kitchen bit by bit before the repair work gets started. I don't have a date on that yet, but better do it bit by bit, because it's heavy work. And I'd rather do it myself so I know where things are. I think we've experienced helpful people putting things away so you never find them again. 

Like Handsome Son clearing the table a while back. Took me three days to find the salt. He'd filed it alphabetically with spices, instead of on the salt and pepper turntable with half a dozen salt types. Logical thinking which baffled me. But he assumed I had one salt, and probably one pepper. 

I have a ride to tomorrow's knitting group, and I had to organize a project to take with me. I resurrected this 

Late July, I thought I'd be wearing this by now, but one thing and another.. 

There was a presentation a couple of days ago,  Master Dyers to the World,on great dyers in India and Pakistan in the eighteenth century and earlier, by George Washington University Textiles, given by Lee Talbot.

The subject was the Bible of dyeing of that period, 

As usual with museum and collection presentations, the interest was largely in the provenance and quality of finished items. So it's not a place to learn about process or sourcing, or the social position of the makers. However, they do label their slides fully enough to give us place, techniques and current location, to follow up on.

The large tent with dyed woven hangings was the kind of moveable palace used by rulers in the Mughal period in India, conspicuous consumption. Often this kind of display was meant to convey the power of the ruler.

As dyers from India -- this was long before Partition, so India meant the whole subcontinent, including present day Pakistan -- developed high-level skills in dyeing and block printing cotton textiles, they dominated the market. Then came the industrial revolution, and Britain passed protectionist laws to prevent Indian textiles from being imported, in favor of the British textile industry. 

You see how Indian design had centered European taste and clothing for their export market. There's a lot of design from the subcontinent designed for Western tastes. And they catered to the developing Japanese market, their uses of textiles for wrapping as well as clothing and wall hangings. Thailand also imported from India.

I have a great catalog raisonnee from the Met exhibit a while back, on the history of textiles, which points out that Indian cloth, dyed, stamped and resist treated, was a key barter commodity in the flourishing spice trade.

This presentation was a look at one part of the skills and connections of a worldwide trade.

Happy day, everyone, so much to do!

More crochet, and walking exploits

Exciting showering this morning, then later a walk to the mailbox with HS, then still later a solo trip across the street to a neighbor's house. It's all go, this unassisted walking life.

HS is going home tonight so I've tried out everything while he's around, and it's worked fine.  

Meanwhile I got out the crochet and changed colors, now a bright white. 

I'm thinking irregular stripes in green, white and blue. The tension seems to be working better now, and the warmer weather is friendly to my hands, so I can work a bit longer each time.

In the midst of my listening to Heat and Dust read by Julie Christie,

Gary came in with a cactus that looks a bit over watered to me. He decided to move it outside the fence, and I didn't argue though there's rain in the forecast.  It might be sheltered under his butterfly bush.

Happy day everyone, May the Fourth be with you!

Sometimes it's good to not do something, as in watering cactus. I'm not very skilled at refraining, full disclosure, though not surprising. Anyway do this 

And here's the haggard Hawks puzzle solution 

Daffodils, creeping Jenny and bees

The season is moving forward in the daffodil community. Early daffodils have faded, mid season are just past their prime and the lovely late delicate daffodils are budding ready to open.

Here you'll see late daffodils in bud and the red tulips Gary planted starting to open. This has been a great year for bulbs.

And the next visitor, after the hairy bittercress has been around for a few days, is a favorite of mine, which showed up a couple of years ago. I think maybe this creeping Jenny hitched a ride on another plant. 

In some places it's an invasive nuisance but here it's a plant I like to see, which will form a carpet around the pachysandra, sometimes climbing right over it, and there will be small yellow flowers.

On the occasional warm day, bees are already out and about, and thanks to Chris, I'm reading a great book about all kinds of bees 

It's a serious study, but written in a way that total beginners on the bee scene can follow and learn. I know we have a few local species, and this year I plan to learn and identify more, as soon as they show up.

So that's where I am today, later I'll catch Textiles and Tea, and show you human made structures.

The crocheted piece so far is a monument to determination rather than art, but I'm learning with each stitch, so it counts. My story and I'm stickin to it.

Note to self 

Sez Ted 

Crochet and tension

I'm continuing with the crocheted summer top, after a false start, which made me rip back to the starting chain, and things went better after that. 

You can see how the stitch tension varies a bit, along with the crocheter's tension, but it's an improvement on the first try. And I'm keeping the sides straight, always a challenge with crocheting a rectangle.

And cooking today is simple, baby bella mushrooms in oil and butter, handful of spinach added, with little crisp roast potatoes, using half the mushrooms  you see here 

The rest of the mushrooms will be in an omelette tomorrow.

Current reading is a murder mystery 

There's nothing like a nice locked room murder to take your mind off things.

Happy day everyone, these posts are a bit skimpy but bear with me, best I can do right now.

Sez Ted 

Rehearsing, repairing and revisiting

 I seem to be in dress rehearsal mode at the moment. Practicing dressing using a dressing stick and a grabber, practicing showering using the slide bench, practicing getting in and out of bed protecting the soon to be repaired hip, Helen Mark Two, practicing using the walker and checking how to navigate the bathroom with it, checking my cup will fit in the walker tray. 

There's also the exercises from my PT. Heel slides, toe taps, side moves, balancing one leg, bridges using resistance, leg extension, hip flexor stretches, sit to stand then overhead holding 5lb dumbbell, windshield wipers, knee side stretches with resistance band.  He and I are determined my strength will help recovery. 

This is all about managing anxiety, as astute blogistas will have noted. 

And I finally got to do a sock darn, before I started my new crochet.

I used my spectacle case as a darning tool, because the shape is right for the heel. A scrap of contrasting yarn, and I was set.

Two socks in waiting, but I thought I'd do one 

Here's the finished outside and 

 

the finished inside, soft and comfortable. It's partly crocheted, picking up live stitches, partly darned, weaving across the hole and the surrounding thin area.

Then I made the starting chain for the summer top I'm making from several leftover cotton threads in various summery colors. I'm starting with a pale green.

The whiskers you see are scraps of thread acting as stitchmarkers, since I don't have any locking markers. I inserted one every ten chains, to save a lot of counting as I chained the base of the piece. They can stay in place as a guide while the piece grows.

I'm doing a half-double stitch here, new to me and I think it's going to make a nice fabric, less transparent than double and less warm than single. A Goldilocks choice. At least that's the plan. It's a bit wobbly, learning as I go, but it will block out fine at the end. That's my story, anyway.

Happy day everyone, rainy and cold here, Helen complaining a bit. I finished the tofu sticks and tomorrow I embark on the veggie lasagna. 

Mme Ramotswe is my reading companion just now, too.