Well, there are no snakes here but we do have some really tall grass. It's beginning to fall over it's so tall. I think it's time to put this down for the kitties to munch. I picked up some wrist guards this weekend at the behest of Judy, my PT, and have begun wearing them some of the time. This is the women's large but it's really tight on my thumb, that doesn't seem right. We also found a negative/slide scanner this weekend which I am hoping will help fill my non-crafting time for awhile. I am estimating I have about 3000 images to scan. My goal is to have them all done before Daniel's graduation when my older son Chris and my "ex" step-daughter Kathryn will both be here as I'd like to give them copies. It's hard to divide up family memories and in the digital age that's really not necessary anymore. I've made a tiny start on them and am filling up a Flickr set here. Eventually I'll try to put them in some semblance of order, subdivide them into sets, and add more information especially dates and full names where I know them.
What I love about this time of year is that I find something new in the garden every time I go outside. The columbine is up and then hens and chicks are greening. It always surprises me that hens and chicks can overwinter here. The bicolor muscari continue to put on a show and the stonecrop is starting to peek out and say hello.
Yesterday I took advantage of the lovely sunny weather and went out for a walk (it's rainy today and probably tomorrow). The snow is gone from the woodsy trails near the house but there's still a bit in the hollows and really shady spots. I can see all the spring trees just about to burst into bloom.
Yesterday was my birthday and Jason cooked a fantastic dinner of grilled steak with fresh horseradish sour cream, artichokes sauteed with garlic and grilled bread and broccolini. We have been mostly abstaining from alcohol but for this dinner he got a wee bit carried away and we had one of my favorite red wines (Stag's Leap Cabernet) and my favorite champage (Moet White Star). I baked the cake- an angel food cake (btw, do not use Emeril's angel food recipe, it's flat) with some delish lemon curd and fresh strawberries. I got some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Argyle off my Loopy Ewe wishlist (yay!), the new Estonian lace book by Nancy Bush, Martha Stewart's Cooking School book (a fantastic how-to reference), some amazing chocolate, and some cash which I've used to order the Sata Mitten book (I think those charts would make great socks!) and the Three-cornered and Long Shawls lace books (you have to scroll down to find it). Jason got me the sock and sweater classes at the Elegant Ewe with Beth Brown Reinsel (I'd specifically requested them a few months ago, okay maybe insisted) and then he cheated and also got me an iTouch so I can listen to audio books when I go walking.
Class starts Friday and my yarn and needles are ready. Sadly the PT decided I have also got some carpal tunnel issues going on in the right wrist as well so nearly all crafting has come to a halt. I will still go to class, it's prepaid and it's with big yarn and needles- we'll only be doing swatches. I've got a whole 'nother sheaf of exercises to do and she's still quite optimistic that I'll be better in a few months. I bought wrist guards this weekend and am making use of them, especially on the right side.
It's hard to believe there's all that snow elsewhere in the US when it's so sunny and beautiful here today. The muscari have joined the crocus and the bees are working happily away visiting my garden in the warm sunshine.
When we lived in Cambridge I had some physical therapy with the best PT ever. He was really big on econo-tools I could use at home to exercise or self-massage. One of his favorites was a string of rubber bands looped together. This one is two used tennis balls stuck together with duct tape. They leave a perfect little depression for your spine. You put this doojobby on the wall and then lean against it and squat up and down while it loosens up your back muscles. Presto-chango you feel MUCH better.
Last but not least the cat grass has sprouted and in the rabbit vs. tortoise race, this is most definitely the rabbit. These guys are 1 1/2-inches tall in 3 days! The packages says you can give this to your cats ten days after planting. I was a bit skeptical but now? I totally believe it. I looked at them at 7 and then again at 2 and they were at least half an inch bigger. Wow!
I need a bit of mindless knitting to work on so I've cast on for a handspun version of the Silk Kerchief pattern. The Winter Rose was proving too aggravating to the shoulder so it's on indefinite hold. This will only need to be finished by mid-April as the main color yarn is some that I spun from Doe's fleece. I'd love to have a project with that to show the shepherd. The other yarns are also handspun though the orange was a gift and is not my own. The physical therapist did advise I cut back on the knitting so I'll be going very slowly with this project.
Yesterday I finished up the sashiko potholder. The stitching doesn't go all the way to the top since it's folded to make a hemmed edge for the pocket. The embroidered piece is then basted onto the pocket back and two layers of insul-bright are stitched onto the backing piece and quilted in a simple cross pattern. After that the front and back are attached with a little gap for turning and top stitching finishes the piece. It's a bit snug for Jason's hand but it fits mine perfectly. It's just the thing for the tea kettle since the steam will get you if the lid is not snug- this will protect your hand either way.
For dinner I made a chicken curry with leg quarters from our March CSA share. It's served over saffron rice for which I simply added a pinch of saffron, a pat of butter and a star anise to my normal rice as it cooked.
Chicken Curry
1 1/2 pounds chicken leg quarters 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons curry powder 28 ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes salt, to taste pinch cayenne 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (grated is fine too) 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 can light coconut milk 2 tablespoons cornstarch plus 1/4 cup cold water
Brown the leg quarters on both sides in a Dutch oven, adding the onion when you turn to brown the second side. Stir in the garlic and let cook about 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant. Add the canned crushed tomatoes, salt, cayenne, curry powder and most of the cilantro (reserve a bit for garnish). Cover and simmer 45 minutes or until chicken is falling from the bone. Remove leg quarters to a cutting board and pick off the meat returning it to the pan. Add coconut milk. Stir the cornstart into 1/4 cup water and add it to the curry mixture, stirring while you do so. Simmer 3-5 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with reserved cilantro and serve over hot cooked rice.
I won't tell you how many folks have finished a complete pair of these socks in the time it's taken me to knit just one but it's a lot. I finally have a mate for my Tropical Mer-tini test knit (which is the round one Sock Madness pattern). I knit these on size 1 needles (circs for the first sock, DPNs for the second) using Koigu KPPPM in colorway P603. These were a fun adaptation of the Drunkard's Path quilt pattern and had several things that were new to me. I don't think I'd ever done the Twisted German Cast On or an afterthought heel and the gusset was pretty radical. They fit very nicely though I do like longer cuffs. It's just as well Im not competing, they'd been waiting another week for me to finish a pair.
For dinner last night I made some interesting "enchiladas". I browned 1 pound of our CSA ground beef with 1/2 cup chopped onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 T cumin, 1 T chili powder and salt, to taste. In another pan I simmered 1 pound tomatillos, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 minced jalapenos and salt, to taste. Meanwhile the oven preheated to 400F. When the meat was cooked through and the veg was soft I used the meat to stuff corn tortillas, placed them in a pan, topped with 1 cup pepperjack and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and then poured the veg over that. Bake off at 400F for 30 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown. Avocado and lettuce completed the meal.
Several years ago my sister gave me an aloe vera start. A year later I
split him into two pots and then for a couple years he just got big.
Now he puts out keikis every year and is happier if I divide him. Last
spring we had a get together for a local sock swap and I managed to
pawn off several potted babies on my guests. I'm hoping to do the same
at this year's swap so I've split the first guy. Each of these 5 pots
has 2 or 3 in it! There's still another guy who needs to be split. I
think he's pretty happy.
Recently I picked up some flower and veg seed for the garden and spotted this packet of seed for kitty greens. Some of my house plants are left happily alone but there are a few that the cats really go after. This packet of seeds suggests that having a pot or two of kitty greens will deter them from attacking your other house plants and be safer and healthier for them as well. I'm starting one pot this week and a second pot next week so that one can be down at munching level while the other recovers. Since I have three cats I may have to start a second pair of these as well but for the moment I'll try it with just these.
Last summer when I took my niece and a friend's daughter to the Lowell Quilt Museum I picked up a sashiko potholder kit. I'd been interested in learning sashiko for awhile and had even gone so far as to purchase a few instructive books but I hadn't gotten around to buying materials for making anything. When I saw the kit I thought it would make the perfect introduction to the technique. The kit comes with the design preprinted in water soluble ink and seems simple enough to execute. Last week when I was looking for non-knitting things to occupy my time I remember this kit and pulled it out. I don't think it's going to keep me busy for very long but that's okay since there's currently no knitting moratorium.
