More winnowing

Three more artworks leaving tomorrow, via Freecycle 

Left watercolor and chalk, center monotypes, right pastel. The recipient turns out to be recently widowed and helping a friend in distress, too, so she's so happy with the art. She's had pieces from me before and loves them. Says they're helping. I feel quite teary about that. 

And since I have all these as e-books, where I can enlarge the font, these are also up on Freecycle, with a potential taker

I remembered the artworks in the loft when I was up there, finally fixing a little stain from rain by the window, the cause fixed years ago, and I finally got the Kilz to spray it. 

This was after I decided it was okay to spray the living room ceiling stain from the recent plumbing adventure, and went in search of the safe place I'd put the can of Kilz. There was a lengthy search indoors and out until I finally found it.  It was safe from being found.

Then, since it was found and shaken endlessly to mix it, I thought here's the chance also to do that little stain on the third floor that only I know about.

While I was up there I took a picture of the artworks. There are more of them,  but I find offering more gets people in a blur and they end up not choosing anything. Or maybe that's just me. Now to find a bag for them. 

So, successful afternoon so far. By the way, the cumin seeds in the bread are really good, especially when it's toasted. Just fyi. 

And I did another fun bit of cute winter boots, emailing DOGGY to list what I did last week. Federal employees are being asked for this, so let's all join in and crash the box.

hr@opm.gov

Do it, it's fun. We need fun where we can find it. Thank you, Debby, at Life's Funny Like That, for the idea. I had fun coming up with my five.

Late breaking news: Gary came over this evening with news. He's moving. He needs a bigger place because of growing numbers of grandchildren, and he's outgrown next door.

Next year probably. I need that long to adjust to the idea. It will be great for him, not so much for this neighborhood. He's already gone to contract on a house in a nearby town.  Life will be very different.

Happy day everyone, anyway, do silly stuff that's also useful! 

The reveal

 The cooking and baking day yielded 

Carrot, sweet potato soup 

Whole-wheat, oat and chickpea bread with cumin seeds

Cordial from fresh limes and lemons with turmeric, honey, ginger and molasses, seen here draining 

Mayo in the background that didn't emulsify but did taste very good, so it works as an extra flavor, a spoonful trailed over the soup bowl to serve.

So now even if I have no interest in cooking for the next few days, I'll still eat well. Supper was a bowl of soup, slice of new baked bread, glass of cordial. The cordial is quite intense, so you dilute it to drink.

Happy day everyone, I hope everyone is holding up okay. Ted says sit in the sun, it's good.

Remember you're somebody's guiding light 

Photo AC 

Mayo, bread, soup

Today is a basic day. I made a gallon of laundry liquid, next comes stock, then soup, and bread. This is because I was out of all of them. I'll also take another try at mayo from aqua faba, the last try not working so well.

The  laundry stuff lasts ages, needing about half a cup per load, so at least 32 loads, which explains why I can't find the post about the last time I made it. It still seems to be a surprise when it runs out though.

Here's a screenshot from September, which might in fact be when I last made it, for people who fancy trying their hand.

Quarter bar (one ounce) castile soap, grated and melted in one cup water on the stove,  quarter cup each of washing soda and borax, stirred in the container half filled with water. Then add the melted soap solution, fill up with hot, not boiling, water, stir and stir. Leave 24 hours to cure, shake, use. I shake it every time because the contents can settle.

Done. Cheap. Very little shopping involved.

Oatmeal I got this week from Misfits will get into the oatmeal-whole wheat bread I am about to commit.

There's a bag of peeled carrots and a cooked sweet potato in the freezer, plus stock makings. By end of day it will be soup.

And maybe there will be tuna salad if the mayo works out. Aqua faba is a vegan egg substitute. I'm not vegan, (clearly, tuna?) but I like trying substitutes. Definitely for eggs which can only get more pricey. Especially since today's bank alert tells me the plumber cashed his $$$$ check.

On to cheerier things. I heard last night that an online friend on another platform saw yesterday's outdoor picture I'd posted there and her mood improved from seeing it. 

She'd been very down that morning, worried about her SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid and subsidized housing. Old lady who worked all her life until felled by leukemia, now hanging in at home. 

She has a lot to worry about and I was so moved that I'd unknowingly given her just a moment of feeling better. She's unsinkable, but even she needs a cheerful note now and then. So there's that. 

Hamish Macbeth continues and I think I'm near the end of the ebooks, oh dear. I may have to start writing more of them.

Happy day everyone, and if you're up for cutting way back on buying 

A word of encouragement there!

Thrills, no spills and sunshine

 I was determined to walk today, because my spirits get very low when I don't, and recently what with ice and Helen, it's been too risky.

Anyway, sunshine today 

What they call a moderate wind and I call a bitter blast, but I really needed to get out.

As soon as I stepped outside, the adventure began. My door locked itself behind me. I don't take my keys when I walk, no need. 

There's a snap lock for the cleaning family, they can lock without using a key, when they leave, and the other lock which needs a key. I never use the snap lock, but it evidently had got turned inside the door to the locking position. Oh.

Then I remembered my emergency keys in an undisclosed location. Requiring a climb up. I usually use the stepladder stored in there, but the last user had returned it with the steps facing the wall. I can't lift and turn it to get at the step I need to reach the keys. Oh, again. 

Then Carol Cane saved the day -- reached up, hooked the keys onto the handle, bingo. Managed to unlock the door, stiff, unused key, and then had to return them to the UL.

I couldn't reverse the hooking idea but found an unopened paint can to stand on, juuuuuust reached the hook. All fine now.

And when I finally made it out, it was beautiful. 

Bitter cold wind but I was insulated, remnants of light snow yesterday. 

Down there on the right I found a small cinder block in the trees which I carried home for yet another item to prop up the lavender container. Did I mention it's on a slope? Now there's an assortment of bricks, rocks and other items trying to keep it in place. We'll see. 

So I counted this as a series of successes. Small, but you take them where you find them.

And the landscape at home, speaking of fridge magnets,  here's the max stuff I have on my fridge, long past the days of Handsome Son's artwork!

Bits of art by friends, voting proof, librarian support sticker. On the left, my DNR form where EMTs would see it as soon as they come in the front door.

On the side where you don't see, unless you're working at the counter, various reminders, and a butterfly Chris will recognize.

You'll notice apples and potatoes feature here, I wonder why.

Here's a Portuguese take by cartoonist Zez Vaz, on our current situation. He's at zezvaz.com

Happy day everyone, small stuff is okay, life's made of small stuff.

Now more than ever.

Tofu Katsu, and Misfits

In prep for today's Misfits delivery including tofu, I made the dipping sauce and organized the breading. This makes crisp sticks of tofu which I plan to go with soup.

Easiest sauce ever: small dash oil, ketchup and soy sauce. That's it. So I hope the tofu shows up. Yeung Man Cooking stars again.

Meanwhile the bags and ice blocks are out for return, and you can see the lavender trying to fall over again 

It's topheavy so the wind or a climbing squirrel, can topple it. The roots are through into the ground, but I don't like them to be yanked about when the pot falls over.

Update: The tofu arrived, but today, unusually, the delivery came mid-afternoon, rather than midmorning, so my lunch plans underwent a change. Tofu sticks for supper now, with spinach. The instructions say to test when the oil is hot enough, put in the tip of a bamboo skewer, if bubbles form, it's hot enough. I don't have one, so I used a bamboo knitting needle.

Here:

Very crisp and crunchy, finger food, dip in the sauce. 

No new eggs, potatoes or  apples this week, owing to a surfeit.  And possibly these are chickpeas but you never know.  Sliced cheese instead of a block, I really have to read my orders better, but oh well. Oats for crumbles and bread baking. Berries and yogurt for desserts. Chocolate cherries because I'm worth it.

Gary is home,  picked up the houseplants I was rehabbing for him, and gave me an update on a piece of furniture the across the street neighbor is replacing. Doesn't take much to entertain me these days. And wherever Gary is, there's action.

There he is, helping carry it out.

If you're thinking about a support puppy in these stressful times, see what the little martians do.  Just sayin.

Reclaiming my flag today 

Today's cute winter boots, immigrant rights

Here's what's up today. I've sent away for my cards, which I will leave around in places like the library, and give to friends.

At home, the Sock 'n Glove Ministry continues, probably needed all the more now 

This yarn is interesting. It's braided rather than plied, and creates a lovely warm springy fabric, good for socks.   After this pair, I have enough yarn to double the threads and knit gloves. 

It's friendly to knit, a contrast to that brilliantly colored yarn I've been using, which fights every step.  It looks lovely when done but I don't look forward to knitting it. 

However it's what I was issued with, so I feel I need to use it. The socks have certainly been well received, so there's that. 

This yarn is much more restful. Right now there's enough fighting without having your yarn joining in.

Happy day everyone, looking forward to tomorrow's Misfits, because there's an interesting tofu idea I plan on after the halibut is gone, along with the Spanish Fork potato croquettes.

Meanwhile Hamish Macbeth is still going.

We can keep going too, and thank you everyone who is doing their bit of resisting the current evil administration, even though it's uncomfortable to do it. 

We need to be able to look back in future years, no matter how it goes,  proud of what we did to fight back.

Resistance today, and Textiles and Tea

Here's how you can help the resistance: if you have a blog, please show these pictures to your readers. This is your mission, if you choose to accept it.

There were massive protests all over the country on Presidents Day, NO coverage from mainstream media. We have to do it ourselves, modern-day samizdat.

Here's just one

And here's the ad that the Washington Post first agreed to run, then chickened out on. Trigger alert, picture of M**k.

Thank you. This is a valuable cute winter boots work you can do,  all set up for you. 

And here's a chance at a bit of fun while flooding an inbox

Then there's art, another form of powerful being and making. Today's Textiles and Tea featured an amazing young artist, Crystal Gregory.

She creates enormous installations, using cotton fiber and industrial materials such as concrete, molten pewter, drywall, ballchain. 

She's considering the contrasts and comparisons of hard and soft, rigid and flowing, transparency and solidity, in modern life and society.

Just look.

This was a museum presentation, with dancers climbing and interacting with the weaving. She also moved the concrete tubes regularly, like inanimate dancers.

Knitted work here, embedded in concrete 

Left,  Anni Albers, groundbreaking artist of the Bauhaus, who came to Black Mountain to work and teach away from Nazi Germany. Right is Crystal Gregory, showing Albers influence on her work.

This is an artist to follow. Upcoming shows in Tribeca, Asheville, Vermont and other places, which she's going to put up on her website. Check her out!

Happy day everyone. Breathe, resist, find a bit of fun, too.