Friday night

Friday night’s supper

Hello, Lovely Readers, and welcome to my Friday evening!

🌬 🌦 🌈 ⚡️ 🌪
We’re very much in see-saw weather so I’m flipping between fleece and cotton, with intermittent cogitations on corduroy & ponte — the season of “what to sew next?”  But more on that in another post.

Oh, our National Hurricane Center has decided to open two weeks early this year due to past increases in pre-season “activity.”    Uh-oh.

Before I forget ~
In case you’re peckish for something oaty but your recipes are calling for an oat type you’ve never heard of, have a gander at this page. It describes what American oat growers & grinders mean when they use “their” terms. Hope it sheds some light.

I always enjoy a jaunt with Joanna Lumley and was delighted one night to follow her around her own isle, Britain. You don’t have to have access to BBC’s iplayer to watch – just check out YouTube for her latest 3-part series, Home Sweet Home.

Rest In Peace, little hyacinth

On a sad note – The hyacinth I’ve been photographing committed hari kari. Yes, this last ickle bulb, the runt in Aldi’s litter, always had a disconcertingly major bend in the bud stalks. That evidently became too much to overcome Wednesday dead-of-night, and it toppled off a high shelf. 💔

📚 & 🧶
I’m actually reading a book. 🤪  A very looong book. Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. It’s about one of my fav eras, and came highly recommended by an old friend. Being fascinating and hard to put down, I’ve had a lot of late nights, and am not keeping up with my listening-whilst-sewing books. Naughty-naughty moi . . . .   hehehee!

I haven’t done a thing on my blues blanket since pinning 2 of the 3 long rows together, preparatory to joining them. They got carefully rolled up, put away, and not looked at since.

Problem is I keep thinking I need to clear off my long cutting table. Sewing long rows together needs consistent tension everywhere, no?  And to get that, everything needs to be flat, right?  Any suggestions or hints? Am I being too cautious?? Is a monster  trying to stop my progress?!?!?!?!

🤣     😆     🤣

 

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wordless Wednesday

silent Sunday

silent sunday

February’s Virtual Tea Party

Welcome to our second 2021 Virtual Tea Party!

Amidst the stormy weather, we can carry on, because the tea stays hot & the food never runs out.

Cranberry Bread. I’ll post the recipe at the bottom, if anyone’s interested.

This month we’re having a scrumptious Cranberry Bread, chock full of cranberries and sliced almonds.

Although it’s not quite bready enough to toast, we can always put a few slices in the oven, on Low, and you can enjoy a crunchy version.

The other treat this month can be similar if you choose. Tea sandwiches with a spread based on non-fat plain Greek yogurt, with additional ingredients such as Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard, in a combination known only to my taste buds.

For those who might prefer a dip instead of a spread, I’ve toasted thin slices of homemade bread. There are also the traditional Jacob’s Cream and Ritz crackers, cheese slices and cherry tomatoes for garnish.

Shall we compare notes on who has managed to get a C-19 vaccine shot? Or exchange more recipes? It seems to me that my state and  county aren’t playing nice with each other just now.

Everyone’s trying to register with both, but nothing much is happening. Which isn’t such a bad thing, I guess, as  vaccine availability is so limited.

Hate to think we’re looking at another year of social distancing and wearing masks, don’t you?

Quick – let’s change the subject.

Su (Zimmerbitch) and I share hosting a Virtual Tea Party each month, around the 15th. Everyone is welcome to join in, write a post of their own, contribute a recipe, or just enjoy the party. You can also find us at #virtualteaparty2021 on Instagram.

Thank you for coming!

I have 1 loaf pan, so I halved the recipe.

 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️

A bit tongue-in-cheek as well as vintage . . .

From the New York Public Library Digital Collection. Click to go to source.

 

Something a bit more up-to-date

with thanks to Su for posting it last year.

Save the date – Friday, 19 February 🫖

Echoing Su’s post you’re all invited to tea here on Friday, 19 February, so’s not to conflict with Valentine’s Day.

Su’s suggested a wonderful fruit tart I’ll be debuting, using blueberries and cherries to honor the Presidents’ Day* holiday here.

(* Created by consolidating holidays for Lincoln and Washington, both born in February.)

silly Saturday

Oooo! A squidgy package !!  From Canada !!!

I had visceral reactions to autumnal colours last Autumn . . .

. . . and thought about  realised I might vowed to myself to get more autumnal colours into my closet . . .

Now I’m finding fabrics in autumnal colours, even in summer weight fabrics !

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. . .

 

🤣     😉     😆

Phantom thoughts on Groundhog Day

See the fold-over because it’s 10″ wide?

And some catching up!

In January I had a bit of a breakthrough with two crochet projects: a scarf and that turquoise throw.

Anybody remember that red scarf from last year?  I had sort of a plan in mind, and kept thinking what was coming off my hook was too wide. Stubbornly Nevertheless, I went with the 10″ concept and finished it.

Unexpectedly, a very different use came to mind, so out it came last month, and I searched for an end to frog. That accomplished, I re-crocheted the whole ball, leaving some for fringe. Gotta have a fringe, even if the scarf’s now over 2 yards long (by 5″ wide – width does make a difference 😆).

 

Now that’s done, I can concentrate on finishing the turquoise blanket/throw/whatever. I realised why I was so hung up about getting the pieces sewn together: I didn’t have the proper-sized crewel needle.

Click the pic for an enlargement so you see that nice looong eye in the needle!

Trying to thread a super chunky yarn through a “normal” crewel needle is not fun. I had a dim memory of using a larger-eyed needle in the past, but ignored it because it wasn’t in my packet of needles. The project languished.

Finally, whilst rummaging for something else, I discovered I wasn’t mis-remembering, because I had the right needle in a second packet of crewel needles I’d forgotten.  And there was my remembered needle. Yippee ! !

Another niggly thought I’d had was that the pattern I’d used was too lacy and wouldn’t provide any warmth, so I should frog everything and start over.

Finally I told myself to test it, so I put one of the rectangles over my legs. Did it make me warmer, or not? It did, so that took care of that froggy-recrochet niggle.

Talk about phantom doubts throwing spanners into the wheels of progress completion.  Geesh. 🙄

I did manage to cut out some leggings from a piece of bright yellow cotton knit, but haven’t sewn them up yet. Other things keep coming up – like a microwave that’s suddenly turning its’ fan on, but not off. So inconsiderate.

Unfixed after the first visit, I await a second. I’m not looking forward to another disinfecting of kitchen area – an unpleasant task these days – and sincerely hope this time it gets fixed.

Amongst the angst my weekly loaf started shrinking in size. I finally called the good folk at King Arthur to ask what might be the cause.

(I’d been buying a cheaper white flour from a store-that-shall-be-nameless. Curiously, I remembered my current package had gone into its’ container with a thud rather than a soft swish.)

That evidently brought the difficulty into focus for the expert on the other end of the line. She told me the season in which the grain is harvested can make a big difference in the flour. Mine probably didn’t have enough moisture content, and I should experiment by adding a tablespoon or so more water per loaf.

That same week I noticed a different store had a new-to-me King Arthur brand of white bread flour, and it was on a 2-fer sale — be still my heart! Shamelessly, I stocked up. Out went the suspect flour, in went the K.A. white bread flour, and my loaves have been huge ever since. Expect some good tea sandwiches for February’s Virtual Tea Party.  😉

Thank you for making it to The End, Lovelies!

As all our ❤️super-heroes❤️ say,

❤️ Mask UP & STAY HOME !  ❤️

macro Monday