Exhaling, baking experiment, final flowers

Update on the stair lift and permit: after I decided to go ahead anyway, this morning the township engineer got back to me to say no permit needed. So I've filed that away just in case. 

He was very prompt, considering I'd written close to closing time Friday and he got back early this morning. Clearly a man who attends to email first thing on Monday.

I had also given the go ahead to the stair man, at the weekend, and he too got back promptly, and we're on again. By Friday, all being well, the doings will be in place and carrying stuff up and down for me.

Meanwhile the cleaners wondered if they could use a newly opened slot this morning at my house, and that seems great timing to me, stairs newly cleaned before the installation. So they're at my house and I'm at the library.

And just now I heard from my contractor that he's ordered the bathtub kit, for delivery this weekend.  So with any luck that will move ahead too. It's all go.

In other news, I'm reading via audio while I weave, stay tuned, a book by Ashton  Applewhite about ageist stereotypes. 

It's a manifesto about ageist approaches to almost every aspect of living, written by a woman in her sixties coming to grips with her own aging, who used to believe a lot of the stereotypes herself. 

She's her own audiobook reader, and it's pretty good. I'm finding it a little disheartening to study all the ways, but it's useful reading.

Then last night I watched Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, from a wonderful novel by Elizabeth Taylor. I'd read and appreciated the book long ago. 

But the premise, an older once affluent now widowed lady, real sense of the word, moves into a cheapish residential hotel and what happens then, was much harder to tackle. 

With actors like Celia Johnson at work, and now in my own old age, my understanding is much greater. The poignancy of the people trying to keep up the appearance of having caring family was hard to navigate.

I'm baffled that it was marketed as a comedy, maybe to render the subject of old people having to live out their lives in a hotel more palatable. It would fit with the stereotypes described in Applewhite's book, if so.

More cheerful doings is the new weaving. I'm making a kitchen floor mat. At first I tried making a long warp, using the frame loom with the end piece unscrewed, but I had trouble keeping the tension as I warped. 

I've done it successfully before but this time, maybe the nature of the cotton yarn, not so much. So I decided to make it in sections to join together, rather than struggle.

It's the cotton yarn I made that long summer scarf from, nice color transition tan to pink to slate to white. It will be good against a white floor. And I really enjoy working with that curved shuttle.

 I did a baking experiment. Oatmeal chocolate pancakes, like a cake type thing.

I've added the recipe in case you fancy trying them.  I'll test them on Handsome Son next time I see him. He's done baking experiments himself so he gets the idea. Again I used aqua faba instead of eggs, and it works fine. 

And on the grounds that I'm worth it, I gave myself a present, from As Ever, a top of the line food source, owned and run by Meghan Sussex. Here's the unboxing 

Marmalade, raspberry and strawberry spreads. I've had the apricot spread and it really was excellent. I wonder if a touch of one of them might be good with the chocolate pancakes.

And in case I ran out of things to do, I repotted a couple of plants, creating a mess in the kitchen but finally getting done a couple of jobs I've been meaning to for eons.

Our state is now officially out of drought emergency, thanks to all the inches that fell lately.

 And the little bouquets are tapering off for the year, here Russian sage and chrysanthemums smelling wonderful.

That's Chez Boud for now, and my quiet uneventful days don't sound that way when I write it down. 

Happy day everyone, whether quiet or uproarious.

Nor'easter incoming, but soup and flowers

I had a nice chat on Thursday with Jeff, the Misfits driver and we agreed the delivery software was rubbish. 

He said there's a meeting soon and they've had so many complaints about the new software they're thinking of reverting to the old one. He too doesn't like being unable to message his customers. 

So I promised to push again for change and he left my box and wished me a good day. 

Strawberries for jam, perfect with the yogurt, this batch with vanilla, lemon juice and amchur, great flavor.

Eggs for upcoming quiche when the cheese supplies catch up. Potatoes for parboiling and roasting with the remnants of the chicken.  This served several meals then made the stock for my nor'easter soup.

Pumpkin, kale, potato soup, seasoned with shawarma spice mix, salt, Better than Bouillon and cayenne.  Bits of chicken and homegrown chives for garnish 

Lemons because I need more zest and slices. These are beautiful, too big for the supermarket.

Couple of treats got in there, too. A person needs treats now and then.

Thank you for all your bio offerings. Such a talented and varied group, and the invitation's still open. 

The nor'easter will be with us for a couple of days. 

My storm prep consisted of securing the outdoor chairs, bringing in one lightweight item, taking out the trash and recycling, and picking flowers. 

I figured they'd be flattened by wind and rain, so maybe a bouquet was a good idea. Chrysanthemums and Autumn Joy sedum.

Vital for your spirits.

Happy day everyone, stay dry if it applies. I wish we could share the rain around with states that are bone dry.

Every day please 

Friendships, strength and Magpie Murders

Today the mold and pollen counts are sky high as is the mosquito hunger level, so I decided instead of sneezing and gasping and scratching outside, I'd resume my long neglected indoor exercise.

April and Aiko showing me how. These days balance and fall prevention are big.  I'm fit enough to do the routine without holding onto anything, though I'm close to a chair just in case.

This is also a lift for the spirits, needed about now, too. 

I had a recent neighborly visit from a human bearing banana bread, and this morning one of my local mourning doves showed up to help with the ant problem outside. 

There's usually a pair, maybe the male is out on the nearby golf course this morning.

 

One of the issues weighing me down recently, which I hadn't mentioned, was the planned bathtub conversion 

Like this, a cut out to make it easier to step in. The contractor cuts down an opening in the side of the tub and installs the kit which covers the space between the tub inside and outside. I was very excited when I found they'd started making a kit, after I'd been looking for years for something like this.

So last January I arranged for my contractor friend to do it, and some painting and tiling, as soon as he could get to it. He's been slammed with work, some of which had been on hold and suddenly came through.

As the weeks have gone by and my reminders were met with reassurance but no action, and it's been getting harder to step into the tub to shower, I've been losing heart.

Then I checked again Friday and he tells me I'm in this week's roster, to measure, choose, order, yay. I instantly felt much better. 

Being able to shower solo is one of the markers enabling me to continue living here, like being able to be generally active, carrying and moving and making.  So it's a big deal.

In other exciting news now that I've finished All Creatures, I've embarked on

Lovely Horowitz, a murder mystery within a murder mystery..

I've been catching some discussion online about interspecies friendships and if they were real or ai.

I can vouch for their being real, because I've seen them, in my pet care and at home.

There was the big ginger cat whose friend was a hamster,  who used to run about playing on the cat's back and take a nap between his paws. 

The owner told me she was in a panic the first time her son's hamster took off from his cage, in case the cat hunted him down. He looked like a brown mouse. 

To her amazement, the cat gently touched Hammie, and rolled him softly about and the hamster ran onto his back quite confidently.

The owner was careful for ages before realizing it was safe and they were playing. 

I've known horses who loved having a cat in the stable, to sit on their neck, and got very restless if the cat wasn't around.

Nearer home there was the playtime between my tiny grey rescue cat Boud, hence my screen name in her honor, and my rescued lutino cockatiel Emily.  

No pictures of them but here's an idea, swiped from the Internet.

Emily was free flying all day, just caged at night or when I had visitors for safety.

So she and Boud developed various silly games, like lying side by side on the rug, daring me to step on them. And Emily would nibble gently on Boud's nose while Boud purred loudly. They were a dynamic duo.

Then there was Marigold the dumped Burmese kitten, and KC the dalmatian owned by Handsome Partner.  

HP took Marigold because I couldn't house one more animal, and she, tiny, maybe a pound weight, was completely taken over by KC, a large boned 60+ lb  Dalmatian, real picture of Marigold, swiped internet pic of a Dal.

KC groomed Marigold allll the time, swiping her giant tongue all over her till Marigold was pretty damp! She followed KC like her mom, slept between her paws and generally made a big nuisance of herself yanking on KCs ears and face, till KC like a patient nanny, pushed her gently away.  

We used to think they were the best thing that ever happened to each other. 

And then there are men and women, such  different species but you do see cases where they get along wonderfully...

Happy day everyone, here's today's little bouquet 

Sunday morning, cool, with dragonflies

This morning is so great for walking to the pond 

I don't have to carry water to the flowers, always a plus, because there's rain in the forecast.

So I moseyed down to the pond noticing new fungi and dragonflies. We have many species and here are two from this morning 

This one's harder to see because he's so transparent, perched near the top of a daylily stem, about halfway up the picture.

And the early signs of seasonal change, leaves coming down and the sighting of goldenrod 

I made it to the pond and here's the wind blowing the beech leaves about. Ripples in the water where frogs are moving.

Happy day everyone, great sleeping weather with windows open. Perfect.

And here's a little bouquet with today's additions 

The flood warnings were accurate, weaving and animals

Those emergency alerts I was getting yesterday were on point for just a few miles north of me. A neighboring suburb got over five inches of rain in a couple of hours. And other local towns didn't do well.

Here in town there were wires down and power out, but not my neighborhood, lucky there. Today the humidity is in the 80s, with sun and rain. 

I did get a walk while the walking was good, though. 

Patrick McDonnell, creator of the great Mutts comic strip, and a NJ local, it's not just Bruce, is a mover and shaker in animal welfare.

He's just sent out a survey as part of his work to improve animal shelters. If you'd like to take part, please do. There's plenty of places to express an opinion not just check a box

Note this is a screenshot, so you need to cut and paste.

Then there's the loving hands at home side. The woven belt is getting near the end 

When I reach the heddle you see at the top, the work will come off the loom. 

And I finally pressed that linen?cotton? I got ages ago. It's been waiting by the ironing board for months. 

It took about eight minutes including filling the iron. One of those jobs that took up a lot of mental energy before I finally did it.

I think this may become that surcoat/robe I was musing about a while back. With a woven patterned band for a belt, hm.  Simple, minimal shaping. Hand stitching. Now that it's prewashed and ironed, there's no stopping me.

Today's early morning picking yielded a new bouquet 

Daisies, chrysanthemums, black eyed susan, a lone coreopsis, ivy, wandering dude. Outside a pink zinnia is opening, so soon there will be zinnias in the bouquets.

Happy day everyone, weave all the things, do all the projects. Or maybe just think idly about it, no need to rush into things.