A Stressful Day

 Today was a very stressful day.  I did manage not to do my stress eating at a National coffee chain.  I did go home and make a lower calorie and carb chai.  I did indulge In a vegan brownie though.  Since stress eating was not working I moved on to stress cleaning.  I decided to get a head start on my Passover food cabinet clean out.  I found a lot of expired canned food in the very back of the shelves.  I did find some I had to buy a whole case to get any of somethings from the start of COVID19.  On somethings I did ok on. Like the crackers that came in a case of 24, I finished all but 4 boxes.  Other things not so much.  

I also decided on what we probably would not eat before they expired so I am passing these items on.  The high salt items that I missed in previous sweeps are also going.  I am not totally not distressed but I am too tired to think about it.   I am happy to report that the trash can was not to heavy to make it to the street.  

I find it’s always good to do stress cleaning on trash day so the house does not get cluttered up.  Of course charity runs are tomorrow.  I am exhausted and have early errands tomorrow.   

A Bit of Everything

 I saw the dentist earlier today and got my tooth fixed. The crown is now back in place.  I always get a little tired and loopy after the dentist even with out pain meds. So after a very late breakfast I took a long nap.  I was still a little bit loopy but I made it through the day.  

I did spend the afternoon knitting.  I am happy to say I am almost done with the 3rd pattern repeat. The knitting is perfect just don’t look at my pattern notes. They got kinda wonky towards dinner time.  Knitting this pattern is ridiculously easy for me but writing down what I do line by line is another thing.  I still don’t know where I am going to block it or photograph it yet.  I should not try to get ahead of myself, I still have rows to knit before I am done.  The next question is to fringe or not to fringe.  That’s not a rush because I can do that after I am done blocking.  

With the post holiday COVID19 surge I am back to staying home.  Yes, I have enough yarn, fiber and fabric. Thanks for thinking about it. Also please do us all a favor. If you have not had the vaccine for COVID19 please start the vaccine series. It’s no different from getting the MMR, Poliomyelitis, tetanus, or any other vaccine that you had as a kid to go to school.  Also I highly recommend wearing an N95 or Kn95 mask when out and about.  Just in case you were wondering, yes there is a new variant of COVID19. So we all need to work together to end this pandemic. 

Reading

 Today did not go as planned.  I had a bad night and slept in.  Then for brunch I had a high fat but delicious meal.  Let’s just say my body did not like my choice.  So nothing got done on the new pattern.  I did manage to get through another 2 hours of my new audio book.  I am currently reading The Witch Elm by Tana French. So far it’s really good   I just finished Where The Crawdads Sing which is another excellent book   

A Break Through

 That moment of pure joy when a pattern that I am writing finally clicks in my head.  The moment I know that I can walk and knit the pattern at the same time. Of course I don’t because I need an accurate row count. I also need each line of the pattern to count out equally.  I need to hit my magic number on every single row. I also need the geometry of the pattern to aline.   I also know how the pattern is going to be typed up without sending it out to my daughter to decipher.  How to type it up with out having to type more than 250 rows of the pattern. The moment the pattern does not look like a dyslexic dance party. The moment the pattern stops swirling on the page. I figured out how to get the instructions down to beginning and end with 2 other sections just repeated.  The math is now easier too. 

This only took me a few months.  This is one of the complicated patterns  that I can knit while walking and talking that I have ever written down.  The end is in site.  Now to decide where I am going to put the blocking cubes. In summer I put them outside, it’s January hence it is not summer.   I also have to find a table to photograph it on. We have been getting rid of things that we don’t need or use anymore, the coffee table left 3 or 4 years ago. This is probably poor planning on my part not to have the foresight of my needs years into the future.  I wonder If can go into World Market and use one of their coffee tables to take the pictures? I would give them credit in the pattern.  I will have to call them.  This is all the easy peasy stuff.  

2022 Here I Come

 The year is off to an interesting start. Yesterday a 36 hour tummy bug hit.  I am feeling much better right now.  Just don’t ask about last night. However the new year is not done with me yet, tonight I lost a crown.  So off to the dentist for me.  I hope that this is not how 2022 is going to go.  I could really use a good year after 3 dismissal years.  I am not counting my daughter and her husband’s visits as part of the dismissal times.

My new pattern is going well. This is how I want my year to go.   I am on the last major section.  I think I have figured out how to type up the pattern without typing over 250 rows of the pattern.   It will should be out by the end of the month.  This one should be easy to knit while watching television or listening to an audio book once you have the pattern set.  For me this would be a knitting while walking pattern, if my family would trust me to walk and knit.

Then it will be a baby blanket for someone here in Tucson.  I have the yarn pulled.  I just need the pattern to pop into my head.  I hope this happens soon.  It’s going to be a modern nursery.  So nothing old fashioned.  

Baked Blueberry French Toast

 This is the special NewYears Day breakfast treat that I made for breakfast today.   If you have seen this recipe in a past blog I have changed a few things. There is no added sugar.  My thinking is that there are enough carbs between the bread, blueberries and milk so that no empty sugar calories are needed.  The blueberries provide enough sweetness.  I used duck eggs because of an allergy to chicken eggs, you may use the egg of your own choosing.  I used whole wheat bread, you many use gluten free bread or any other bread of choice. Egg bread is always a good choice.   I used vanilla soy milk, you may use any milk of choice except chocolate milk.  Look I do have to draw the line somewhere.  Plus I am not sure if it will taste good if made with chocolate milk.  I also did not add any additional salt because I feel we get enough sodium in our diets   Also there is sodium in the bread and milk   Trust me you will not miss it   

Pre heat the oven to 350f

Supplies Needed

1 8 x 8 inch baking pan sprayed with a non stick spray

1 2 quart mixing bowl 

1 fork 

8 slices of bread diced

1 cup fresh blueberries rinsed and dried 

1 cup of milk

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

Preparing 

Place the diced bread and blueberries in the baking pan. Gently toss them together making sure that the blueberries are evenly distributed   

In a 2 quart bowl place the eggs, milk and vanilla.   Mix well making sure that the eggs are well blended. Pour over the bread and blueberries making sure that the bread is evenly coated with the egg mixture. 

Carefully place the baking pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 use a knife to test for doneness.  If not done just put it back in for a few more minutes. Servers 4 to 8  

For 1/8th of the pan you will count 1 slice of bread, 1/2 egg, 1/8 cup milk and blueberries 

For 1/4th of the pan you will count 2 slices of bread, 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk and blueberries 

Happy New Years

 First off I like seeing 2021 in the rear view mirror.  Year 2 of the pandemic was not easy for me.  I am tired of the isolation.  

Next I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022.  I pray that we can put COVID19 behind us this year.  Maybe this year we can venture out into the world. I really don’t care if I have to wear a mask.  

We had a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner of homemade soup and store bought rolls.  The company was very nice.   If you would like the soup recipe, I posted the recipe in my December 29, 2021 blog post.  

Because it rained last night we were able to dig out some roots of the cottonwood infestation in the front yard.  I even managed to get some in the trash can before the trash pick up.  The trick is following the roots.  The roots go from plant to plant.  They can be really thick roots.  I went for the smaller plants and John went for the bigger ones.  We stopped when it started raining again.  Maybe we will be able to get a couple more out tomorrow.  

I am also working on a new knitting pattern. I managed to to write and knit 14 more rows. I am also past the halfway point in the design.  Yes there is a lot of math involved.  I am not sure if I won’t do a major revision before I publish it.  I will have to see once it is blocked. I am sure you will be happy that I am doing all the math and all you will have to do is knit.