Honesty harvest, patio update and Misfits

 I took a stroll around the deck early today, before the rain,  and noticed the honesty is ready to pick for everlasting flowers, and the other plants are coming along. 

Wandering dude planted himself uninvited here and in several other places

The potatoes are getting along; that's all of them 

 Look at all the hibiscus buds. Last year there were only a couple 

Zinnias likewise, buds galore 

And here's the first picking of honesty.

I'm giving seeds to my knitting friends, as well as letting some seeds drop where they want.

Here's the first of this year's crop. I love this plant. This is the white and silver corner.

No need to water lately. I had several of these this afternoon 

I think the flooding is not here in town, yet, anyway.

And Misfits arrived anyway, flood or no flood,  the driver in a hoodie so I'm not sure who, maybe Ronald.

Very small shop this week, because I have the makings of spinach quiche when it's cool enough to cook, and chicken thighs ready to roast. And I'm all up-to-date on the food pantry.

Yogurt is a staple, lazy old bread is too, till it's cool enough to bake, shredded cheese for the quiches, shredded because it's oddly cheaper by weight than the block of the same cheese, go figure. 

Lemon juice for lemonade, blueberries to go with yogurt, lovely Envy apples, dried cranberries because it's been a while, potatoes now parboiled ready to roast with chicken in the toaster oven.

If you would like an update on the medical bulletin: I now have the antibiotic in hand,  ready to take one hour before the dentist appointment. That's now set for 8am Monday. Handsome Son is free to take me, yay. 

The reason for the antibiotic is to ward off any potential dental infection, since I have a minor heart valve issue.  Just in an abundance of whatever they said during the pandemic.

And I started a(nother) bracelet using cotton warp yarn, which is working a lot better for me than previous experiments. 

This one may actually become a finished item. Colors green, white and tan, none of which show up here accurately.

I got a picture of two of my donated artworks in their new home. They're really in good hands and being enjoyed.

They're the two stitched pieces, one a mixed media piece, dyed, stitched, with stumpwork insects and animals, one a goldwork design. 

It's a treat to see them in their new home. 

Happy day everyone, honesty rules!

AARP, band joy, honesty and another loom looms

Another hot day, but rain is coming, good, despite my early morning water carrying, the plants are dry.

Early morning, the honesty flowers are developing seedpods. 

I'm going to have a great harvest this year after nothing for several years for my collection. And note the shadows on the fence, sun reflecting off the window and back, creating silhouettes.

Today's band adventure was a happy one, finally achieved a band with much better pattern definition, consistency and even selvedges, always a beginner's downfall.

 

This is the result of all the deadends I explored accidentally yesterday.  I'm really pleased with this because I knew how to fix it and make this work.  The sticking out ends get trimmed off when it's off the loom.

And there was another healthy thing online 

I did it and stayed awake and active for the whole hour, a big advance on last time when, you may remember, I fell asleep during the quiet meditation-with-birdsong break.

As usual the teaching was excellent, the technical support left a bit to be desired. This time the sound level was good, the lighting adequate. 

But whoever was pushing the buttons left me in the waiting room for nearly ten minutes. I was there well ahead of time, but missed the entire intro and she was well underway before they opened it for me. And maybe others too. 

What I got was very good, and sorted out my tired shoulders and back from the weaving, so me I am not on on the complaining, as one of HP's aides used to say.

And well, I did order that little loom with the easier heddle, largely because I found out something vital -- the way it's constructed, wing nuts connecting the parts, you're not limited to the length of the loom.

You can unscrew the end member, and clamp it as far as you want from the rest of the loom, to accommodate any length of warp.

Like this

See the further end,  with wing nuts? That can come off

 

and be clamped as far as you want the warp to be. Then you roll up the end plus warp threads back to the rest of the loom and fasten it on again. 

Then as you want to advance the warp you loosen it, turn the woven end to pull more warp into use, tighten again.

There's a method where you don't even take the bar off, just loosen it so you can rotate it and feed threads on in groups, then pull them to the other end of the loom, tighten and weave.

Cool. I'll try both. This is a game changer, and why didn't I think of it..

This loom is for different kinds of threads and projects from the bandweaver.  No end to my plans at this rate.

Happy day, and happy discoveries, everyone.

 

 

Happy Fourth, and new finds

 It's a more determined than happy Fourth this year, but I plan to enjoy the day. Handsome Son suddenly texted to say he's visiting later, quite a surprise. 

Fortunately I'd made this yesterday 

Plum and apple crumble, newly out of the toaster oven. And this 

Mysterious parcel, a new batch of yogurt in progress.

So there's a little something for him.

Yesterday in the garden, it was time to collect the honesty and strip the pods 

 I tossed all the seeds around on the patio trusting that some will grow next year, and added this year's branch to the collection.

And, at the other end of its life, I found this while I was looking for the praying mantis 

The first hibiscus bud. Happy dance.

The garden always has something to be glad about, even in dark times.

Happy day everyone, happy Fourth if you celebrate, or happy Thursday, unless it's Friday where you are.  If you follow me.

Honesty, chipmunks, stitching and stuff. Also kittens.

The temperature was down to the 80s Monday, with a breeze, and I was up early looking at my flowers. 

I surprised a chipmunk, nearly trod on him. Then I noticed a stem of honesty broken off and lying on the deck.

A closer look and I realized it was bitten off, which is what M. Chipmunk had been doing when I interrupted him. He's the reason I don't plant them in the earth. Chipmunks like to reach up and bite them off before the seed pods mature. I put them in pots now, so they they're too high for chipmunks to reach. This stem probably got knocked down by the rain.

Anyway I harvested it, did a Steve and let the seeds drop where they wanted, and brought the stem in to join its friends.

I finally managed a walk, great after being in the house for a few days. This is how my backyard looks, the one with the Japanese maple and lovely June display of day lilies.

I did make that yogurt pastry I mentioned for the pasties, using some of the yogurt batch I started yesterday.

I baked this in the toaster oven, not wishing to heat up the kitchen. One cup AP, half a cup chickpea flour, and a bit over half a cup of yogurt, half tsp baking powder and salt.

This is one of those soft pastries that likes to rest before you roll it out, then it needs to be cool so it holds together.

There was enough for two more pasties, also enough stuffing, carrots, chard and baby bellas. The mushrooms are important for flavor, since I didn't spice this much.  

This is a very filling meal, what with all the veg, the yogurt and the chickpea flour, protein, all that.

I refrigerated the other two pastry circles so I can make fresh pasties, not reheated ones, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Making got in there, too, today, and I did a bit of stitching on the linen shirt.

The neckline needs to be pressed and I think it's done. Then for the sleeves and hem. At this rate the shirt and vest will be finished about the same time. So we'll see if they work together. The vest will work with various tops, and jeans. At least that's the plan.

In case you wondered if we were getting very serious around here, I found a contrast to solemn talk.

Happy day, everyone, happy kitties all round. Kitties for Ukraine!