A Big Fan of Le Creuset

 Some people wonder why I am such a big fan of Le Creuset Cookware.  It all started after we got married and moved into our first house in the mid 1980’s.  I really wanted a great pan that would last for at least 10 years. I knew that Le Creuset was very expensive.  A very good quality pan from a good company.  But there was away that I could get at least one piece as a newlywed.  My dad and I pooled our Betty Crocker Catalog points.  With at least a 6 x 9 inch envelope full of points bundled up and a check for $35.00, I got my first piece. The money was from rebates and using coupons when I went grocery shopping.  The Betty Crocker Company use to put point’s coupons on everything that they sold.  I used those points for everything in my kitchen including my Oneida silverware, white Corelle dinnerware set which is also still in use, I bought this before I got married.

Fast forward to February 28, 2023.  The pan I bought in the mid 1980’s, is the pan I am using to cook dinner in tonight.  It is a simple Salsa Verde Chicken.  

1 double chicken breast 

1/2 cup Salsa Verde and water

Spray the pan with nonstick olive oil. Place the chicken in the casserole dish.  Wash your hands with hot soapy water.  Cover with the Sals Verde Sauce. Pour the water around the edges of the chicken.  

Bake at 350f for 35 to 45 minutes. It is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165f. The extra water makes the chicken more tender.  

This is dinner for 2 nights for us.  When we were younger we would eat this as 1 meal for 2.  

Over the years I would get more pieces for myself and my daughter.  I even passed down 1 pan that I could no longer lift do to arthritis.  My daughter now uses it for holidays.  In the long run the pan has cost less than $1.00 per year.  Over the years I have gotten a few more pieces, but the heart shaped pan is still my favorite.  It ranks right up there with my Kitchen Aid K-5A mixer bought in 1978 for a whole paycheck and still in use today.  

A Home Run

 I think I am keeping my local department store in business.  I bought 3 more pairs of pants in a smaller size today.  They were sitting at center waist today.  I expect that in 6 to 8 weeks they will be at the base of my rib cage. If this trend continues once spring arrives, you will see me in almost nothing but dresses.  I can wear a shift type dress down through at least a couple of sizes.  Although since I bought all but one of my dresses before I started losing weight I will have to try them all on to see if they still work  That should be at the end of next month. 

I am still trying to figure out how I got my step count for the day over 8,500 steps.  I have not seen a number like that in a long time.  

The stitches came out today.  I will have to start physical therapy at home in earnest tomorrow.  My hand is still sore. I did not try knitting yet.  I did a bit of spinning though.  

John did the tall person thing today. We cleared half a shelf of books that we no longer need.  I even found a 1st edition on Goldwater from the 1960’s in good shape.  I will see where it belongs next.  We even found my day planners from 1994 and 1995.  I will shred them.  Since almost everything is so last century, I don’t think anything will be useful.  

Post Surgery News

 I am getting excited. The stitches come out tomorrow.   Then I can work on some physical therapy to regain full use of my hand and hopefully get rid of the pain.  

I can also use some really big knitting needles to start knitting again.  I make it a point not to knit with stitches in my hand.  I have not been told not to, but all I think about is ouch.  I have 3 projects started that were interrupted by the last round of surgery.  Then maybe I can start knitting the knit along project that I was supposed to start in January and be finished in 8 weeks.  I was to sore and bummed out to go to the last 2 zoom classes.  I really felt like my hand had let me down.  

Shopping Again

 It was time to go shopping for smaller pants again today.  I landed up with 1 pair on sale and a new solid side  drop spindle bag.  No dress pants though, because they actually felt like I was crawling into plastic.  We as the human race need to start going back to natural fibers.  It is better for the environment and people too.  I guess I will go out next week to look for more.  Since I am down to losing a pound a week this current set of pants lasted 10 weeks.  I hate shopping for new clothing so often. When the clothes get too big I have no choice. 

I think I am finally getting the hang of the e spinner.  It is getting less frustrating.  I can still spin better on a drop spindle and double treadle wheel.  I should have lots of interesting yarn for handwoven projects.  

Losing It

 I lost 4 more pounds last month.  They tell me it’s perfectly normal and healthy for my weight loss to slow down after hitting the 20% mark.  I am just the impatient type and want things to go faster. This being said I will hold my course. 

In another area, I sat down with my Ashford E-Spinner3 this afternoon. I have to say from my personal perspective that it is much faster to spin yarn on a drop spindle than the e-spinner.  It took 2 solid hours to spin the yarn below.  I also don’t think that the yarn quality is better than a drop spindle or my double treadle spinning wheels.  I still am not sure what the hype is about.  I have made a personal commitment to spin 2, 4 ounce (100 grams) of a wool silk blend rovings that just happened to be with in reach. Then I will ply them.  Wish me luck. 

My personal favorite drop spindles come from Tom Golding, Krudent ( no longer available as new), Forester ( no longer available as new), Bosworth, Sherpard’s Woodworks, Gnomewood Creations, Akerworks and the ones my husband prints on his 3D printer that are only available at Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson Az.  There are a wide variety of drop spindles in a wide array of price points and materials used. For a wide range of spinning options.  The lighter the drop spindle the finer the yarn will be. A 15 gram drop spindle will get you cobweb or very fine lace weight. A 1 to 2 ounce should get you around a worsted weight yarn. I use my heavier spindles for plying the yarn. 

What I Hate Right Now

 I can say with all honesty that I am tired of stitches in my hand and COVID19.  Both have put a big crimp in my life for different reasons.  At least the stitches come out on Monday for the second time in 2023 and it’s only February.  At the end of the day the stitches have a purpose.  My hand will function better.  COVID19 does not and will still keep me from having a fun retirement.  Keep me dining outside.  Not letting me go to fun indoor events.  

I thought retirement was supposed to be the best time in my life.  I think people lied to me so that I would work hard when I was younger.  Yes, I had a bad day.  

One Project Finally Finished

 The bookcase in the den is finally finished.  Even dusted.  Before you ask the cookbooks are not in any order. It still shows that I am missing one of Julia Childs cookbooks.  The cookbooks are not organized in any way. Not by region, country or regional style. They would not pass the library test.  

What it is about is being dusted. No books stacked on top of others.  Junk removed.  Parts of audio books tossed if the other parts could not be found.  In general neater.  

That being said the fiber arts books are organized.  John’s shelf was camera shy.  

3 More

 3 more shelves were completely reorganized today.  I also made a Bookman’s run today. I got enough store credit to get 4 pairs of socks for charity, 1 pair of socks for me and a new to me Wii Fit game.  

I also managed to make the main course of dinner using only my left hand.  Well except for the spices.  We both enjoyed a rare bit of home cooking.  We even have enough for tomorrow too. It was a turkey breast.  I put it in a cold oven. Then put the lid on and closed the oven door.  Only then did I turn on the oven.

I can’t wait to get the stitches out next week so I can start physical therapy at home.  Unfortunately I know all the exercises.  By that time most of the book cases should be finished.  Then it’s counter time again.  When I am tired I just put things on the counter instead of going the extra mile and putting things away.  

A Good Day

 I am starting to feel human again after my hand surgery on Friday.  I was a little more active today.

I did some very light deep organizing.  I filled 2 bags with books for Goodwill and 1 bag for recycling.  By the way I am now at 3 bags of books leaving the house with a few more places to go through this week.  Since Goodwill will no longer get the things out of the car John will take the Goodwill load in.  

I was able to do a very little bit of spinning on a small Turkish spindle.  I am very anxious to start creating again, however, I will take it very slowly until the stitches come out.  

John went with me for the fruit and vegetable run.  It went very smoothly.  

Weekend Shopping

 I think unless I can go very, very early.  I will try to avoid shopping at Target on weekend afternoons.  I did not mind the people.  What I did not like was a store full of dogs that were not service animals.  I know this because service animals have special vests.  Not one service animal vest in sight.  Also service animals are trained not to go up to people unless their person needs help.  There were puppies and some  dogs the size of small sheep or horses.  Going up to people wanting to be played with or petted. I am not sure what would have happened to my hand if I did not change my route because some of the larger dogs were jumping up on people or nudging them for attention. I am not sure who was needier the dogs or the owners. The city of Tucson and Pima County provide dog parks for the dogs and their owners to socialize.  I personally don’t play with dogs I don’t know. Also having dogs romp throughout the store including the grocery area does not seem like the best idea in the world to me.  I am wondering if that poses a health code violation because of the produce left in open bins and tables. 

There is nothing wrong with having pets.  I think at certain times of life they are great.  That being said, pets do not belong in the grocery store or restaurants for that matter.  Pets need to be left at home for certain activities. 

Also I do not like the attitude of the cashiers towards reusable shopping bags. I keep mine clean. One that I used today was older the the young lady who checked me out.  After I had paid for my groceries, she looked in the bags to see if I was trying to steal something then simply dumped my groceries and bags at the end of the checkout and went on to checkout and bag the items from the next customer because they were using Target’s plastic bags.  This leads to the following question. Target why do you even sell canvas bags if you check out staff refuse to use them.  Do you as a corporation even care about the world you are leaving to your children and grandchildren?

These opinions are my own. They reflect my shopping experience today.  My hand 1 day post hand surgery was not up to the task of bagging my own groceries.  That is why I choose to use a cashier instead of self checkout.  I guess the joke was on me today.  

Surgery #2

 It’s hard to type so here’s today’s picture.  Not fully recovered from surgery #1. Here we go again. 

Snow

 It snowed at the house last night.  This is what is left at breakfast today.  It’s a big deal for us in the desert southwest.  We don’t get it often.  Yes that is on the Barbecue.  Might be 1/8 of an inch.  

8 Feet

 I cleaned out 8 feet of shelf space today.  It is in the back of my car for drop off tomorrow.  John has really enjoyed this unique Valentines Day Gift. There is more work to do but the back of my car is full again with tomorrow’s charity donation.  

Hopefully my right hand will be functioning shortly.  I am getting tired of mass cleaning. I don’t know what else to do when knitting, spinning and weaving are very limited and make my hand sore.  

Valentines Day

 As I was doing more cleaning out of clutter. Clutter defined as things we no longer need or use, I admit I was thinking about tomorrow. Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. The restaurants are crowded and it might be a little too cold for outdoor dining, winter slammed into Southern Arizona with a huge cold blast.  As usual the Road to Mount Lemmon is closed because of snow and ice.  We had rain at our house.  We missed the hail and snow.  

We are in need of nothing.  So there was no need to rack my brain for what to buy.  I might buy some strawberries to go with dinner.  

So I started thinking, what if I filled my car with things that will leave the house permanently.  With everything going to Goodwill.  I can give John the gift of less clutter and more organized space around the house.  I told John about this and he is fine with the idea.  By the way I filled 2 more boxes today.  

We will go out and celebrate this weekend when it is supposed to get warmer.  

What is everyone else doing tomorrow?

Knitting Magazines

 I wish that I had discovered sooner in my knitting career that I don’t like to knit fussy knitting projects.  I am almost at the end of going through 8 feet of knitting magazines. I am honestly keeping less than half.  I am afraid that I many have more than one copy of some magazines, because friends gave them to me saying that I would look cute in a certain creation.  With the very odd hours and long days spent taking care of my wonderful children, husband, elderly family members, volunteering in the community and running a house I did not have the leftover brain power for anything fancy.  Sleeping was a luxury back then.  

Now that I have the time.  My hands are tired and wonky.  I don’t knit socks anymore.  I really don’t use small knitting needles much anymore except to get knots out of yarn.  I am also changing sizes so often that once I finish one part of a big project it will be to big for me.  I have a couple of sweaters on the back burner when my body gets to the size it wants to be.  

So for now it is shawls for me in smaller sizes. Spinning yarn on drop spindles.  Scarfs and hats for charity projects for kids once I can manage smaller knitting needles.  We find out about the next hand surgery this week.  Then it is physical therapy at home and gradually starting knitting again with lots of breaks.  

By the way, if you are looking for an older knitting, crochet or spinning magazine just ask. I might have it.  They are going for 50% off the list price except for the ones that sold for less than $5.00 from so last century which go for the original sale price. Yes I even have some of those.

Surprisingly, once the space is cleared and a bit of reorganization later the space is filled.  Things are looking neater every day.  

On Strike

 The washing machine went on strike today. At least I am mostly caught up on laundry.  I can still go to the laundromat or do a few loads of hand washing as necessary.  This is my personal experience. I don’t believe that LG is a reliable brand like Whirlpool.  The LG seems to break down every 2 years or so.  I think they need to work on reliability instead of how often can we make this washing machine break so people will buy more of them.  I even bet they don’t have a plan to recycle old parts or machines.

In other news 7 books are leaving the house on Monday.  I listed 6 inches of magazines and store bought patterns today.  I have 6 more inches of magazines to list.  I also found 2 more boxes of magazines to go through. That currently leaves over 40 books and magazines to browse through on my Ravelry book destash page.  I also have a bit of yarn listed on my yarn destash page.  After that I think it’s time to go through all of Eric’s CD’s.  If Bookman’s will not take them they will go to Goodwill.  

The more that is leaving the house the neater everything is getting.  

I also mentioned that our little free neighborhood library was nearly empty. So I like a bunch of other neighbors dropped off a few books.  

Busy

 I was on a roll this afternoon.  I managed to free up a lot of shelf space. I am dropping a few books off at our little free library this weekend. I listed more books on my Ravelry library destash page.  I have about a foot stacked of magazines and books to list tomorrow. I am also organizing by craft and author. This has lead to finding a few duplicates in my collection.  Not a good thing.  I know after this wild first cut that I will be able to winnow my collection down some more.  I also have sock knitting DVDs that I will try to list somewhere, as my hands no longer like smaller knitting needles. 

I will be going through all my cd’s this weekend. If Bookman’s no longer takes them they will be going to Goodwill.  

I think all this extra energy is coming from losing a bunch of weight.  

A Free Shawl Pattern.

 I actually started a simple shawl for my self today.  It’s a bit modified from a wash cloth pattern. I am knitting it on U.S. size 11 knitting needles. Using some Eco Cloud by Cascade Yarns.  Yes, this was the problem yarn of a few weeks ago.  I spent about an hour doing sewn together European joins formally called Russian joins.  I have not finished the joins, however I did join most of the smaller pieces.  

This is meant to be a very relaxing knit.

Sheri’s Simple Shawl

4 skeins of Eco Cloud by Cascade or any yarn from your stash that is 164 yards per 3.5 ounces or 150 meters per 100 grams.

U.S. Size 11 knitting needles with at least a 36 inch cable.

A darning needle to weave in the ends  

Cast on 20 stitches in your preferred method.  

Rows 1 and 2. Knit Across.

Row 3 and all rows except the bind off row. Knit unit you have 1 stitch remaining, yarn over, knit 1.  

When you have 4 times the last knit row do a loose bind off.

This will give you a nice subtle edge.  

Pictures to follow.  Please share the link to my pattern with your friends rather than photocopying the pattern. You many not give this pattern away with a yarn purchase, you must give the link.  I will give you the total number of rows later as I just started this today.  

I Figured It Out

 I figured out why I was in pain and cranky. A lovely little tendonitis flare up in both hands and one ankle. The solution was simple. Both hand braces and an ankle brace.  A lot of sleep. And I feel a little bit better. I will brace my hand’s again tonight.  

I listed a whole bunch of weaving books on my Ravelry books for sale page.  I might have just sold a few this evening.  Wish me luck.  Also more shelves of books to go through.  

TTFN

I made it through the day.

 The arthritis won today.  

Progress

 This is progress at a snail’s pace.  I started spinning this beautiful Masham dyed by Indigodragonfly before COVID19 when I was still teaching drop spinning.  I found it during the organizing of spinning baskets.  I decided it must be finished.  I spun it on 5 different drop spindles of the same weight by 3 different spindle makers.  Today I finally finished the first spin.  

Now to get it off the spindles to ply the 5 skeins.   

The spindles from left to right: 2 Foresters, 1 made by a midwestern maker, 2 Kurdants

Fly on the Wall

 This afternoon we went to a “juried” art show.  It was interesting to see what was actually acceptable to the group.  Since it was billed as a “Fine Arts Show” I personally expected something a little more upscale.  About 50 percent were truly artistic and had really nice work. Really one of a kind pieces with thoughtful consideration in to what and how the items were made.  

Then there was the “artist” who went to sip and paint workshops.  I say this because they all have a certain style to them.  A customer was trying to get his motivation behind the paintings.  They reply of it just came to me did not quite cut it with the potential buyer. The potential buyer started asking more in depth questions.  The “artist” was out of his depth and could only come up with it came to me.  In my humble opinion this did not reflect well on anyone.  There is always a plan for a project.  A note on a scrap of paper. A crude drawing. A photograph. A note on the phone.  Colors that are calling to you.  Unless of course you just like throwing buckets of paint on a very large canvas and call it modern art.  

Then there were the jewelry “designers” who bought partially pre made beads and added an earring fish hook.  I find it amazing that someone can do so little work and call it original.  Spend maybe fifty cents on parts and sell it for $45.00 or more.  I guess it’s what the market will bare. This takes away from the actual jewelry artist who hand craft each piece..often working for less per hour, but making beautiful one of a kind pieces.  

On the way out I over heard a buyer telling her shopping companion that she did not particularly need more jewelry.  Was not that fond of the piece. Here comes the, But the artist was nice and needed the money.  I will just give it away later.  No one has to know.  Really.  I just don’t know what to say   

I find it amazing what a group will do to fill its coffers. To string people along both the artists and the buyers.   They have to do better.  

On the bright side it was a nice day to walk around an outdoor mall.  

Out and About

 We got out today.  We headed down to the Kino Sports Complex for a Tucson Gem and Mineral event.  I did get 2 shorter silver chains for 2 pieces that John got for me on our last vacation.  I also found a little mounted stone to make into a stitch marker.  

What I did not find were any great deals like in the past.  Charms that used to go for 5 or 10 dollars a scoop of about 20 were at the low end $1.00 a piece today.  Thank you big oil for raising the shipping costs, thus the overall cost of everything.  

We found a new out door lunch spot. Seis on River Road off of Campbell.  They had a salad called a Rustic. I then added some squash and chicken.  I of course left off the salad dressing.  I could eat that salad a few times a week.  

*Edited to correct the restaurants name   

Something Different

 I am trying something different to try to change my perspective on life. I bought a journal today at Target, actually 2. I just could not decide which I liked better.  My goal before bed is to write down something positive that happened on that day.  I got the first entry in.  No, I will not be sharing most of them.  

I have got to climb out of my COVID19 burn out.  I have got to work my way safely out of isolation.  Maybe with an outdoor knitting or spinning group.  Unless the looms are smaller, it might be hard for outdoor weaving.  Even the smallest looms can be awkward to carry around.   Maybe just going to the park to knit or spin with a drop spindle might be in order.  

I am working on getting healthier and more active.  To be totally honest I don’t make my walking goal every day.  I came really close today, even adding a loop around Target before shopping today.  Although I did skip my favorite Starbucks tea and replaced it with a tangerine and cashews. They are about the same number of calories, but nutritionally the tangerine and cashews were a better choice.  No processed foods of any kind involved.  Everything in my life is about baby steps right now.