ANZAC Day

Today's about honoring the brave young soldiers of Australia and New Zealand who crossed the planet in 1916 to fight at Gallipoli. It commemorates the landings at that disastrous engagement.  They were so young and so brave. 

I always think about their mothers today, too, as the war dragged on, baking Anzac biscuits which they figured out could be edible after shipping so far, a taste of home.

Later the commenoration has been enlarged to honor all  Australian and New Zealand war dead and serving. And I add, their families.

That's it today. Honoring you, New Zealand and Australian blogistas and your spirit.

Photo AC 

Scarves, socks, supplies and soup

Today I finished the scarf, and here it is.

Now I'm planning the next. That was a good piece of learning. And today, using Joanne's family darning mushroom, I repaired my  sock, which had developed a hole around  the toe

Fairly wobbly darn, which became invisible when I put the sock on.

Meanwhile, since the weaving isn't portable, I started a new pair of socks for the Ministry, so as to have something to bring to the knitting group.

Then I had to sort out yarn, to find washable wool for the next ministry scarf. 

This looks like a good supply, but, reading heaps left to right

In the box are miscellaneous small unlabeled amounts which I can't use for ministry knitting, don't know if they are machine washable.

Next cotton remnants, socks okay, maybe another pair, scarves no, not warm enough.

Next a small supply of super wash, which can be socks or scarves, good. Next definitely not, hand wash, dry flat is for my use only, can't expect anyone else to do it.

And that's about it. As you see, I'm eking out the black yarn in stripes because I have a good supply of the (terminally boring) grey, but not much black.

So that's where we are.  Next parcel to Sister M. will be the scarf, which to my surprise, is nice enough to give, and two pairs of socks.

Yesterday I also finished

And recommend it as a well written, passionate auto, written with a ghost, they all are, but with a genuineness about it and great narrative ability. I've heard part of the audiobook version read by him, and his narratives talent really shines.

It's sad to read his struggles, despite the seemingly golden good fortune of birth and wealth, quite a bit of which is illusory.  The endless pursuit by the gutter press which printed literally thousands of slanderous articles and hundreds of books, none with permission, from the moment his mother died, when he was 12, is stunning.  

Then on to the savage press coverage of his biracial son's birth, with images and descriptions that I wouldn't repeat, so vile.  The scurrilous articles about Meghan can't be repeated here.

And his father cancelling his sll important security detail, while another source leaked his location, it's all so House of Cards, it's stunning.  

In the 24 hours after the news broke that he but not Meghan would attend the coronation, one single newspaper rushed out over 30 articles attacking her. One paper. 24 hours.  This is on top of six years of non-stop spying and hundreds of unauthorized books , thousands of unauthorized articles.

I think one Netflix show, one Winfrey interview and one book, are a very mild and courteous response on his part. He doesn't criticize his relatives, just relates his puzzlement over their actions and words. He criticizes the media. 

I'm glad he not only has established safety in the US but has made the press and the family who colludes with them, grasp they've taken on the wrong people. 

He's probably the most capable and intelligent of his family,  and has a great partnership with a strong woman. That's the good part. It's a long but readable book.

Here's the immediate supply

by the stove, left olive, right avocado. You can see color differences. 

The main supply is kept in a cooler place, behind a closed cabinet door, light not being very good for oil. They come in dark glass bottles, too.

While we're in the kitchen, here's lunch

Red lentil flatbread with cream of butternut squash, carrot and sweet potato soup. 

The garnish is lemon balm, which I think is in the mint family. It grows to world domination, but is a great lemon flavor for all kinds of food, such as lemon chicken, lemonade, any place you want the flavor of lemons.

Happy day everyone, enjoy your weaving, whatever form it takes!

St. George, Shakespeare and my auntie Kitty

 Happy St George's Day!

Also possibly Shakespeare's birthday and death day, and the birthday of my Auntie Kitty, who could have taken them both on.

One look and the dragon would have rolled over, paws in the air. And she'd probably have fixed Shakespeare's spelling, at least made him spell his name one way, just make up his mind.

Although I grew up in England, I had grandparents of all four nations: English, Irish. Scots, Welsh, one each, in alphabetical order. I hugely support independence of all of them from the others.

Yesterday I found a couple of great YouTube channels to recommend, if you like joyful happy expeditions. 

It's a mother and daughter team who go out mudlarking all over England, riverbanks, woodlands, seashores, to search for beautiful tiny abandoned and tide swept items, some of historic importance, some just lovely. 

The mom of the team is knowledgeable about domestic history and artefacts, but doesn't flaunt it, just slips in information as they go.  

There are places such as  some of the mudflats of the Thames in London, where you can't just go and pick things up. The likely historic significance means you need a proper permit to do it, with the agreement that important finds be handed over to the conservators, often museums or officially appointed folk. So don't just try it if you're a tourist without a permit, because the Tower of London is quite near.

Then our team, Kit and Caboodlers,  create miniature scenes using their finds.

They're just such fun to follow, a lovely change from doom. Along with Atomic Shrimp, they're a great antidote to stress.

And today I wove my scarf as far as I can. There's a point where even though there appears to be plenty of warp left, the space required to raise and lower the heddle is too tight and you have to stop 

So, the near end of the scarf is now off the loom, and tomorrow I'll do finishing, fringing and knotting, and declare it done. The white triangle is sunshine.

And Gladly, the Cross Eyed Bear, took charge of the gear till I set up again. Ursula, in her tiny pink pussyhat, kittenhat, thought it wise to duck down in case he started swinging the PVC piping around.

Happy day everyone! Soup on the stove today, for lunch with a lentil flatbread. Carrot, sweet potato and butternut squash. Not too hot yet for soup.

Happy Earth Day

 

I remember when Gaylord Nelson, Democrat of Wisconsin in the 70s,  organized the first teach-ins about the earth, which developed into Earth Day. 

We took it very seriously having observed the near extinction in this region of the iconic bald eagle, as well as many other less spectacular species. We did save the eagle and the osprey, but we need to take care of Gaia to preserve our remaining species.

Meanwhile let's enjoy her and admire things like this ancient b and w spread from my family dictionary from 1935

I used to read this dictionary all the time as a kid, and it's the only thing I inherited from my parents. And it's enough.

Then there's

Then locally out and about, daffodils have done their job, so now it's dogwood

And here's the little gnome, reunited with his umbrella and installed among the tulips.

Food is happening, too, so here's my latest flatbread, red lentil.

I put the lentils to soak in water overnight, rinsed them today, minced in garlic and fine seasalt, added a bit of water, then blended them to a nice consistency for flatbread.

It made a lot of batter, so there's a container of it in the freezer, too, now.

So here's today's lunch, the rest of the chickpea tuna salad, with the avocado oil, heated, with a lentil flatbread. Garnished with fresh sage.

You need flatbread here because the salad dressing is too good not to mop up. 

And if you can't stand fiddling away with the puzzle any longer, it's been going forever because it's 

ETERNAL

Some people were right on it. And I added to the entertainment by being too dense to pick up some clues and answering them solemnly! I guess there's worse things than providing what G and S would call innocent merriment.

Happy day everyone, Earth too. 

Eid and knitting

To everyone who observed Ramadan, and are celebrating the end, Eid

Happy Eid. So the confluence of the three Abrahamic religions is complete for this year. It was unusual for Passover, Easter and Ramadan all to coincide.

And knitting group today produced the usual range of conversation, weather, neighbors, the surplus of white yarn in the library stash and how to use it up for kids' crafts. On that topic, if anyone here has an idea, I'll pass it on to the appropriate librarian.

And here's a cotton towel in progress

And a crocheted baby blanket, almost finished, the edge here nearly done.

Always like to give a shout-out to crochet, after a lot of emphasis on knitting, since several of us do both.

Short entry today, except did I mention that I used the last of the ginger scallion avocado oil sauce to make a tuna salad, stuffed into a pita bread with spinach? Really good. 

I never had avocado oil before so I'm seeing how it works. Heavier than the olive oil, but a higher smoking point, good for cooking. Any tips by blogistas who know more than I, which wouldn't be hard, are welcome.

Happy day everyone, knit on! 

Cleaners, school art, and Misfits

 Today being the day my cleaning family comes and I go out, I went to one of the three libraries I use, the township one with the gallery I founded.

And here's what's in the gallery

First grader!

Another first grader!

Following is a clay sculpture series, middie and high school

And high school drawings, prints, collages 

It's an energy packed show, worth visiting if you're local. 

While I was there a young father came by with a toddler, to show him the artworks, and I was so pleased. This is exactly why I wanted the gallery, right in the library,  so all ages could experience art casually, no big deal, no gatekeeping, parents can bring kids without worrying about criticism.  Great stuff.

While I was there I took a look at the puzzle collection and here's one of our donations, Rose

See it there? The high jinks puzzle. The rest are out on loan. 

Once home the Misfits box arrived, lovely young man always insists on lifting it into the house, warning me to be careful lifting it. I dropped a line of appreciation to his company today. So much better than the FedEx throw it down and run procedure.

So no picture outside, because he put it here

Note i didn't crop out ny feet because I'm wearing the socks you saw in progress, beautiful donated yarn 

And it's a small haul this week, lovely free range eggs. They really do taste and look so much better than the battery type. With any luck the chickens feel better, too.

You up for a Haggard Hawks puzzle?

Remember no giving away the answer, funny clues only, if you can think of one.

Happy day everyone, I'm certainly having one.