DD is coming for a weekend visit so I wanted to make a couple things that she likes. She loves Olive & Nut spread (I do too) and I already had the cream cheese, pecans, mayo, and olives so I toasted the nuts and softened the cream cheese. She also loves Pimento Cheese, or maybe just I do, anyway I went to Walmart for cheese and a jar of pimentos to make that. Then I was surfing memories on Facebook (don't know why) and recipes for fruit and veg infused waters popped up so I grabbed some lemons, limes, and a cucumber at the store, picked some mint from the garden, took out a couple green tea bags, and got those steeping. I'll taste them tomorrow and report.
The other day I got the Montparnasse Eco Cardi sleeve and left front soaking in wool wash so today I sent them through the spin cycle in the washer and pinned them out into shape to dry. It's so much easier to seam up sweater parts when they're blocked, plus they fit together better.
On Friday night at Goodwill I found three more pairs of the light cotton lounge pants Durwood likes to wear and was quick to sew a strip of binding--onto the left pocket (which is the wrong pocket) instead of the right, that's the pocket he keeps his handkerchief in. So this afternoon I sewed binding onto the right pocket so he can find the pocket when he's sitting down. He's lost feeling in his fingertips because of a compressed disk in his neck so stiffening the edge makes it easier to feel. It's not a fashion statement but both of us seem to be leaning more toward comfort and convenience over style in our modes of attire.
More daisies are starting to bloom and the ants seems to be leaving them alone. I don't know what drew so many of them to that one flower but I'm glad they found something else to interest them.
Tonight was the caregivers support group at the ADRC and when I was driving downtown to the meeting I saw three big cranes towering over the buildings along the river so I kept going a couple blocks to find an opening where I saw this big freighter unloading something at a warehouse on the other side of the river. This is one reason why I like living here. Green Bay is an international shipping port so ships from all over the world come down the river in the center of the city and I get to look at them sometimes. I feel like the ships bring the world to my little corner of Wisconsin and blaze a trail that I could potentially explore. It's like maps. I look at maps and see people living there and new experiences instead of lines and dots on paper. I'm sure that there are people who'd rather that the ships didn't come right into the middle of town, wish that they'd stop out near the mouth of the river so commerce didn't interrupt their view but I like it. I like that there's sculpture and condos and cool looking apartments along the river trail and warehouses and coal piles and ships all mixed together. It's interesting and sometimes messy and always lively.
July 10--French, 18th Century, Louis XV Shoe. Isaac picked up the shoe. It was gold brocade with a big fancy buckle on the instep and a one-inch heel. He took a closer look and thought it might be handmade.
On the line below that there's an inch long pencil squiggle that is all that I wrote in the hour between the last word up there and turning out the light. I was tired. Even better, I slept until 6:15 this morning even though I woke up at 4:00 to go potty. Maybe I'm getting the hang of this sleeping thing again. I hope so. Fingers crossed.
--Barbara
My writer friend, Lala, stopped this morning on her way back to Milwaukee from visiting her mom Up Nort' and look at what we found when I showed her my garden. Some of the "thanks for the tomato cages" tomatoes are starting to turn red. I can't decide whether to tell/show Durwood or just wait until they're ready and surprise him with them. It won't be long now.
I finished the map & suiting Shirt no. 1 this afternoon. This neck opening is a bit big too so I'll have to do a little redrawing on the pattern for next time. Maybe I'll just sew an extra inch on each side tomorrow... I should probably pin it first before sewing. Yeah, that's a good idea. I like it, though. The map fabric is meant to be lining and the back is gray polyester suiting. Sewing from stash can be interesting.
For supper tonight I sliced up the shiitake mushroom caps from Saturday's farmer's market, sauteed them with some diced onion, then I cut up the last half of the giant, Dolly Parton-esque chicken breast I baked last week (it was over a pound, that's one big breast), and warmed it all together while the carrots steamed. Yum. Although it struck me as rather cruel to eat cooked chicken off a plate with a chicken pattern on it. Ah well, I've always known that I have a strong streak of Philistine in me...
On Sunday LC and I tried to make pinwheel cookies with a roll of sugar cookie dough from the dairy case. We tinted half of it purple which was a lot of fun to mix and watch the colors blend, then we rolled and patted the two parts, laid one on top of the other, rolled it up, rolled the roll in sprinkles, then wrapped the too warm dough in freezer paper and put it into the freezer to firm up while we had lunch. I sliced the dough and baked it. We agreed that some of them looked kind of pinwheel-like but they tasted pretty good so we counted it a success. The crunchy edges are especially tasty.
July 9--Erastus Salisbury Field, The Garden of Eden. It was the birds that woke them. High in the trees above the cottage a trio of macaws squabbled and screeched. Adam groaned and threw his forearm up over his eyes. "Why can't doves live there?" he said. "Doves coo, they're soothing." Eve rolled toward him in the gray dawn light and laid her head on his shoulder. "How about I make us some waffles?" she said. "Fry up a macaw or two and you've got a deal," said Adam. She snorted, patted his chest, and rolled out of bed. "Sorry, no fried macaw today. I'll fry up some sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon instead. You like apples." She headed to the kitchen and the birds' squawking seemed to fill the room.
Hahaha, apples for Adam's waffles. Ironic, don't you think? No fried macaw today. Sorry, dude. Man, it's hot and humid again. I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't a way to bribe Mother Nature to slip a little cooler and drier in one of these days. DD's coming for the weekend on Friday and I'm hoping it'll cool off a bit for her. Fingers crossed. My pee pee alarm woke me at 4:30 again today. That's getting real old. I'm about ready to hit the hay.
--Barbara
... especially when you manage to fling yourself into bed by 10 o'clock. It's not a perfect night's sleep but it's getting there. One of these days I'll have this sleeping thing figured out again. Stupid hubris.
Yesterday morning I met DS, LC, and OJ at the Farmer's Market. We roamed up and down the street looking at all the beautiful veggies, fruits, and other tempting things offered. I was lured to a table with Sensitive plants and had to buy one--for only $2.50. Have you ever seen one? If you pinch the leaves they fold up and if you tap a branch they flop down. I've had one on and off for years--mostly off, but it was irresistible for the price and the entertainment value and this morning there's a flower. Totally worth the price. (Sensitive plants were roadside weeds in Penang, Malaysia when we were there about 35 years ago [that long ago???] and I remember how entertained we were when we drove by and all of them would fold up and flop from the wind of our passing.) I also bought some shiitake mushrooms which I've never tasted, a cucumber, two tomatoes from the "hurry up and eat these" bin, and a kohlrabi. Then we stopped at a Hispanic lady's stall for a fresh sugar doughnut for LC and me to split and 2 tamales -one spicy and one not--for DS and OJ. That little dickens eats a whole one all by himself. He's a growing boy. I plan to insert myself into DS's Saturday farmer's market trip more often. Plus there's free 8 AM yoga down there. Guess I'll go earlier next week and take my mat...
I decided this morning that today was the day I'd unplug and load the ancient computers and printers that are in the living room to take to recycling tomorrow. I got them all disconnected and was sorting through the cords when I realized that the cable/internet/phone modem wasn't lit. Oops. So I tracked back the power cord, plugged it in and got one blue light. Hmm, that meant no phone but none of the phone-type connector cords hanging from it fit in the phone jack in the wall. Back to the van for one of the computers, plugged the phone cord into the wall jack and the computer jack, then found a place on the back of the computer for the modem jack. Eureka! Phone/cable/internet restored. Tomorrow I call the cable company to find out what cord I need to go from the modem to the wall jack so I can recycle the old computer. Next the desk goes and the little walnut writing desk with matching chair that Grandpa Stephan built comes back from storage to fill the space--with more style and less bulk.
The only other things I did today were go to the dive shop to see if I couldn't fix a pair of headphones but had no luck, then came home to start sewing one of the shirts I cut out last month. I was going to take its picture to show you but all that's left to do is the neck binding and the hems so I'll wait to show it to you when it's done.
I have been knitting steadily, a few rows a day, on the Montparnasse Eco Cardi right front. I know I've said this a dozen times but I do love a sweater piece that decreases as I go rather than increases.
Didn't write the prompt last night either. I was so tired I could barely get myself into bed. I'm hoping to do better tonight. Maybe I'll sleep past daybreak tomorrow too. At least that's my hope. Hasta la vista, babies.
--Barbara
This is going to be short. I woke up too early today (I'm tired of my bladder acting like an alarm clock) and had a very busy day, went to knitting, and now I need to blog to keep my streak going.
Lots of garden to see. The "thanks for the tomato cages" tomatoes are growing in leaps and bounds,
there's a bell pepper on the plant,
carrrots are thick and plentiful,
not so the scallions. Very few of the seeds germinated so I'm hoping they all make it.
For supper the last couple nights I've made myself a ramen noodle bowl with chicken breast, onions, bell peppers, and shredded carrots. Yum--and only 7 points. Makes a great supper.
July 6--Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, Complicated Anticipation. The monk stared at the factory, a clash of antiquity and the modern age. He prayed for the people toiling like swarming ants in the hot and noisy plant. He also prayed for the fat-cat business owners who benefited from the sweat of the workers but never got their hands dirty, only soiled their eternal souls.
I'm determined to go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning with DS, LC, and OJ so I need to get to sleep. I suspect there won't be any prompt writing tonight, in fact, I'm sure of that.
--Barbara
...but not quite as unbearable as last weekend or yesterday. Today the windowsill thermometer did NOT say 100 degrees at any time during the day. Not even a momentary flicker. Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler and drier. Hallelujah.
I found something to elevate my pot of strawberries on the patio to try to keep them out of the clutches of the rapacious chipmunks--one of DS's cast off Ale Pails from his early homebrewing days. It's the perfect height and I think it looks just right there in front of the petunias and zinnias.
And just after supper I ate these two very nearly ripe berries. I was going to leave them on the plant until tomorrow but when I went out to put a new bag of birdseed in the can on the patio I found a barely pink, unripe, and gnawed berry on the doormat. Not going to leave my precious berries out there for any Tom, Chip or Dale to gobble up, I picked them and ate them myself. They were wonderful, sweet, and juicy.
This afternoon I spied this fuzzy little glutton in the grass. Baby bunnies, while cute, have been known to eat my ferns. This does not please me. Baby bunnies can eat all the grass and clover and fallen birdseed they desire but they'd better stay out of my ferns.
I got flowers! The doorbell rang this afternoon while I sat on the couch knitting and look what it was. A beautiful vase of red carnations and baby's breath from DS and his family. Just because they love me. I've had a challenging month and they wanted to send me a floral hug. Somebody raised those children right, both of them.
Speaking of knitting, I got the 5" of even rows done on the right front of the Montparnasse Eco Cardi and started the decreases. As I did on the left front I'll decrease one stitch every third row for 30 rows (10 stitches fewer) and then every other row until I reach the desired 12 stitches, hopefully I'll run out of stitches to decrease just about the time I reach the length the sweater piece is supposed to be.
July 5--Sir John Lavery, The Peoples' Pool, Palm Beach. You can see prosperity in the very size of the place. There was room for everyone and everyone came. The mothers sat in the narrow band of shade that hugged the west wall. Young women draped themselves on the pool's edge, the better to catch the lifeguard's eye. The children splashed and played in the shallows, their high voices echoing off the salmon pink stucco walls.
I just heard a few "a day late" or maybe "leftover" fireworks but tonight's here-and-there explosions can't hold a (Roman) candle to last night's bombardment. I was sure the noise would keep me awake but I'd been up and down the stairs carrying wet laundry and then out in the hot and humid hanging sheets on the line so many times that I fell right to sleep, didn't even finish the last five words of the writing prompt until just now. I don't think I'll have much trouble falling asleep tonight either. *yawn* Okay, that's just silly. Typing the word "yawn" made me yawn.
--Barbara
I managed to sleep all the way until 6:30 this morning and it felt like it was nearly noon. So silly. As soon as I had both eyes open I zoomed over to visit the grand-chickens to see if there were any great-grand-eggs. There were two! I have no idea whether they were laid by Bokkers, Henita, Cluckers, or LC, Jr; I'm just glad for the eggs. (the golf ball is there for inspiration and encouragement) I see a fresh egg omelet in my future.
I bought Durwood a new laptop last week but there's something wrong with it. I charged it up but it wouldn't start unless it was plugged in. I took it back to Office Depot, the fixit guy removed and replaced the battery, and then it worked. Huzzah! However, after working to set things up for Durwood I turned it off and when I tried to turn it back on the same thing happened. Methinks it's a good thing I kept all of the packing and have my receipt at hand because it'll be going back and I'll bring home a different one. I have enough frustration in my life, I'm not letting a blue laptop get the better of me.
On my way home from Office Depot I stopped at Pick 'n Save for some chocolate ice cream (not exactly on the way home but I was running low and we can't have that). OJ and I have been keeping our eyes on some pots of strawberry plants there. When we first saw them they were $20--too expensive. Last week they were $15--better but still out of the budget. Today I was by myself and they were marked $10--affordable. So I looked them over, chose one, and it's mine. Now if only I can keep the birds from eating the berries before I get to. I see some bird netting in my future. I can fix that when I make some sort of protective cage for the bell pepper plant because I suspect that the chipmunks are gobbling up the baby peppers before they have a chance to grow.
Durwood spied this Hairy Woodpecker visiting the suet feeder today and we caught sight of a flutter of hummingbird wings on the back side of the nectar feeder. (have to make more birdie juice tomorrow, don't forget) The Hairy Woodpecker is a tiny bit bigger than the Downy and has a much longer and pointier beak also it looks kind of rumpled whereas the Downy looks like it just came from the groomer.
It's time to toe! I added rows a few at a time and measured often so that my escape velocity didn't take me beyond time to start the toe decreases. I'd have done the first decrease row and put in the little markers that help me remember what to do when and where but I was getting too sleepy and I see that it's nearly 11 o'clock already so I'd better start typing faster.
July 3--Paul Gauguin, Thatched Hut Under Palm Trees. The rain made it sound like an army of mice was marching through the thatched roof. Gemma ducked and cringed every time the wind gusted and pelted the house with more rain, harder rain. She watched the ceiling darken where the water seeped through the layers and wondered whether snakes could get in where rain came through. Her hand trembled as she tried to light the lantern and she let out a tiny shriek when a drop of rain water hit her shoulder.
I'm always relieved to see that Gauguin painted subjects other than topless native girls who look uncomfortable being scrutinized by him. Time to sleep. Got the dishwasher running, remembered to add my felted purse to the Fair entries (the deadline's July 15 and I didn't want to forget), and, well, it's late and time for bed. Nighty-night.
--Barbara
DD is coming for a weekend visit so I wanted to make a couple things that she likes. She loves Olive & Nut spread (I do too) and I already had the cream cheese, pecans, mayo, and olives so I toasted the nuts and softened the cream cheese. She also loves Pimento Cheese, or maybe just I do, anyway I went to Walmart for cheese and a jar of pimentos to make that. Then I was surfing memories on Facebook (don't know why) and recipes for fruit and veg infused waters popped up so I grabbed some lemons, limes, and a cucumber at the store, picked some mint from the garden, took out a couple green tea bags, and got those steeping. I'll taste them tomorrow and report.
On Friday night at Goodwill I found three more pairs of the light cotton lounge pants Durwood likes to wear and was quick to sew a strip of binding--onto the left pocket (which is the wrong pocket) instead of the right, that's the pocket he keeps his handkerchief in. So this afternoon I sewed binding onto the right pocket so he can find the pocket when he's sitting down. He's lost feeling in his fingertips because of a compressed disk in his neck so stiffening the edge makes it easier to feel. It's not a fashion statement but both of us seem to be leaning more toward comfort and convenience over style in our modes of attire.
Tonight was the caregivers support group at the ADRC and when I was driving downtown to the meeting I saw three big cranes towering over the buildings along the river so I kept going a couple blocks to find an opening where I saw this big freighter unloading something at a warehouse on the other side of the river. This is one reason why I like living here. Green Bay is an international shipping port so ships from all over the world come down the river in the center of the city and I get to look at them sometimes. I feel like the ships bring the world to my little corner of Wisconsin and blaze a trail that I could potentially explore. It's like maps. I look at maps and see people living there and new experiences instead of lines and dots on paper. I'm sure that there are people who'd rather that the ships didn't come right into the middle of town, wish that they'd stop out near the mouth of the river so commerce didn't interrupt their view but I like it. I like that there's sculpture and condos and cool looking apartments along the river trail and warehouses and coal piles and ships all mixed together. It's interesting and sometimes messy and always lively.
