It’s Not a Good Day to Eat

 Today was not the best day for eating.  In the middle of the night one of my first dental crowns just decided to fall off.  I think I got it in my late 20’s thanks to my very dry mouth, which over a decade later was linked to Sjögren’s.  But the cavities started in earnest when I was about 8 thanks to a very dry mouth. But I regressed a bit.   I rinsed the crown off and put it into a Ziplock bag, and then into my purse.  By the looks of the crown I can see another dental implant in the very near future.  It’s not the first implant that I have had and it will not be the last.  

Breakfast was very easy.  I made a fresh pot of oatmeal.  I cook it in the rice cooker, making 4 servings at a time.  I eat the first bowl hot and the next 3 bowls cold out of the fridge.  Lunch was another story.  I had made a turkey breast to cover a few dinners.  I should give you my recipe as Thanksgiving is coming up.  Anyway I had enough leftovers to make 2 servings of soup.  I was working at my usual work spot.  I stepped away to get a container of rice to divide between the pot and the freezer container.  While my back was to the soup, somehow a plate left the cupboard, hit the soup pot and broke into an awful lot of pieces.  After we cleaned up our part, my husband set up the Roborock to vacuum and then mop the area twice.  

Then at the same time we said in unison, I guess it’s time to go out to lunch. My second lunch mistake was trying a new restaurant.  I thought that since the restaurant and parking lot were crowded we might have hit on a new spot to eat. Boy was I wrong. Because of the bad experience, as keeping with my blog policy, I will not give the name or location.  We had to wait to order, they promptly forgot about our order. When the food did come out my food was very spicy, I ordered very light spice.  My husband did not even get what he ordered.  Both items came out stone cold..Needless to say we got home just in time for my body to get really sick.  I spent the next hour in the restroom.  

Dinner was hard cooked duck eggs, sourdough bread and 2 mini oranges.  It almost sat well.  I think my tummy was still out of kilter from lunch.  

I hope you hat your Sunday was better than mine. TTFN. 

When a Mistake Becomes a Design Element

 I have to admit that I still have a lot to learn and remember with Tunisian Crochet.  I am currently working on a mosaic pattern.  The directions still confuse me at times.  So I naturally made a mistake in the beginning of making of the pattern.  

Here’s the thing though.  I like the way my mistake gives one side of the pattern a little color boost.  So instead of ripping out so many rows.  Spending days working out the directions so that I understand and can implement the directions, I decided to go with the flow and leave the edge stitch alone on the right side of the pattern.  

Personally I know that this attitude will drive some designers crazy.  Mumbling how stupid the person is that is making their pattern as a newbie.  I also want to state that there are subtle differences between knitting, crochet patterns and Tunisian crochet patterns.  

I have been under too much stress for too long recently, which has brought my dyslexia to a raging forefront. There is no way around this. At this point, even if I read the pattern upside down and backwards or with one eye closed, my mind still would not process the words correctly. Sometimes the pattern directions are so subtle that I would have to wait a few weeks for the stress to leave and things go back to how everyone else sees the pattern. 

Since I want to finish this project as soon as possible, I am using the Sheri Method.  The Sheri Method basically compares a fiber arts pattern to a recipe.  No one seems to have a problem adjusting the ingredients in a recipe, this is called being a great creative cook. So I feel the same considerations should be given to the fiber artist. In my humble opinion everyone who creates with fiber is an artist.  All artists see the same thing differently.  So this is my own version.

I am knitting The Gentle Current Cowl by Aklori Designs The yarn for this pattern was dyed Bad Sheep Yarn, in the colors Witch King and Brooks, both are DK weight. The Della Q “ Support Your Local Yarn Store” bag makes a perfect bag so my yarn does not get twisted or knotted. I just keep center snap closed so the yarn behaves very nicely.  

Lori has designed a great pattern.  Except for the 2 lines I could not wrap my head around ( i.e. my dyslexia)  I think this is a very clear and easy to use pattern.  The yarn from Bad Sheep Yarn is soft and squishy.  So since my ADHD brain loved the design and yarn, my ADHD brain taxed itself and ordered the same set 3 different times in 3 different colors. So I will be making this pattern at least 2 more times.  

A Bitter Sweet Day

 Today was a bitter sweet kinda of day.  Eric’s lift was removed from his old room, now the knitting room. It is fitting that the room is now the dedicated knitting room, because I spent years by his bed knitting in my rocking chair when he was having a bad days. It was bitter because in the end I had no control over entropy, that is all in G’ds hands.  That timing was between Eric and G’d.

The lift was a daily reminder that I failed my only son.  I would manage to hit my head on the lift at least once a month.  So I am glad that I am no longer going to be hitting my head on the lift.  The holes in the ceiling are even patched. 

I will have some good reminders like his favorite stuffed animals and books.  Gone are all the medical supplies. Also long  gone, are all the sick room furniture, like the hospital bed and I.V. pole.

I am still having trouble finding someone who knows how to design a knitting room.   One designer treated it like a big closet at nearly triple the price of the designers who called it a classroom.  Why the heck would I want a classroom in my house when I have 2 perfectly good local yarn shops in driving distance? I really don’t think it should be that hard to design a room with shelves and drawers.  Maybe even a counter to put my drop spindles on display.  A fold down ironing board and a place to store both my sewing machines when not in use.  

I think the easiest part of this project will be to move the electrical outlets and new paint for  the room before the installation of the new cabinets.  Also rehoming 2 bookcases should be pretty easy.  The current plastic storage cases should also be easy to rehome. 

Since I have been busy destashing my yarn, it should be pretty easy to put into the clear boxes we saved and do a temporary storage of yarn until the construction is finished.  I still have odds and ends to go through. That won’t take much

Someone Laughed at My Plans for the Day

 I am a strong believer in I make plans and G’d laughs.  My plans for today included going to services, talking with family members over zoom and working in the sewing room. Well after last weeks very long and stressful week the woman upstairs had other plans.  

By the time I talked with family and had my oatmeal and banana for breakfast I had exactly zero spoons left. It has been quite a while since I had zero spoons left at the beginning of the day.  It took all my remaining energy just to crawl back into bed and sleep for most of the day.  I do admit that I feel better.  

So that leaves 3 UFO’s on the couch.  One shopping bag and dress to mend.  A sewing room to go through and declutter.  This will happen with projects get finished, sorting through things to leave the house and recycling what needs to be recycled.  There is always tomorrow.  

I did manage to walk .64 miles after dinner.  So at least the day ended on a strong note.  

The Attack on the Sewing Room Has Begun

 To day I decided to attack UFO’s and repair work in the sewing room.  First on the list was putting the final seam into 2 dog pillows.  

Next on the agenda was to make a personal scrap bag for my personal sewing, weaving and other fiber arts of my own creation.  The bag is no longer empty.  

Next on the agenda, to repair 3 bags that I bought at Follow Your Heart in California when I started living on my own.  I bought 1 new bag every paycheck for a total of 3 canvas shopping bags.  The first bag was easy. I just pulled out some scrap fabric and cut a small square out. I found matching thread. Then patched a small hole.  The second and third bags took me a few minutes to figure out.  Once I had figured out how to replace the handles without changing the structure of the bag the work went quickly. After I finished the second bag I ran into dinner time. So bag number three will be completed tomorrow.  

Below is a pile of most of what I completed today.  

A New Recipe

 I have come up with a solution to Sour Dough Bread* that is to dry for sandwiches. No it’s not French toast, I did not have any eggs in the house. They could be used for very large soup croutons.  Even better than that, turned into crackers. Yes, that’s right, crackers with a wonderfully tangy flavor. A texture that is perfect and not crumbly, they won’t get smashed when you take them out of the cracker jar.  Even better than that is that they are a one ingredient recipe.  

Sour Dough Crackers 

1 loaf of stale sour dough bread

1 bread knife

1 toaster  with a low setting or an oven that can be set to 250f degrees or 121c

1 Cracker jar

The Process 

With your bread knife cut the bread into 1/4 inch or 6.35 mm slices. Smaller pieces are better.  I cut the loaf into half and made smaller crackers.

  Place several slices in your toaster on the second to lowest setting. (Turn the toaster on for one cycle. When the cycle is done let the bread cool down in the toaster until the toaster is cold) *repeat for at least 3 cycles turning over once.  Repeat with you remaining bread slices.  When the crackers are the way you like your crackers, put them in a cracker jar. Leave uncovered for the first night and the cover the crackers. I used an Oxo storage container, you can use whatever you have around the house.  

I had 2 crackers with my cuppa tonight and they were a wonderful combination with my chocolate chai.  

*Please note that this recipe will work with other breads and toasting times will be different.  

A Hectic Life

 My life has been very hectic lately.  I feel like I am running in so many directions with many different goals competing for my time. 

 I am in the final planning stages for combining my sewing and knitting rooms together. Which means that I am getting busy doing all the mending. Finishing projects that have been started.  Going through everything in the sewing room to see what is leaving and what needs to be temporarily stored in the garage. Thank goodness I have spent months on the knitting room. The knitting room is ready to be packed up once I get our new designer updated with some minor changes.

We will then have to pack up the room. Remove the bookcases to be rehoused.  Move the metal rack into the garage. The plastic boxes will not be rehoused until after the new room is completed.  We need to do some electrical work. Remove Eric’s old lift. Then paint the room.  Hopefully that will coincide with the delivery and set up with the new room.  

Right now I am in the process of deciding what long term projects that I am giving up entirely, including but not limited to dog pillows. The dog pillow project started as a way to keep my yarn scraps out of the land fill. Then other people heard about the project and started giving me their scraps of yarn, fiber and batting.  Over the years it has morphed out of control.  Then I stopped the project cold during Covid. Friends started giving me their scraps again.  With in a few months I filled two 32 quart containers with scarps.  I made an entire dog pillow today.  It was just too much physical exertion for me.  So considering that as long as my husband and I have been together we have never owned anything but goldfish with our daughter.  I am humbly requesting that someone take over this project.  The pillows are very easy to put together.  It just takes time and energy that I no longer have.  I can even write a blog post with the directions.  I have to put myself and my health first.  

It is now time to call it a day.  TTFN.