Yes, that woman!! 102 and Zooming and making food for family and friends and generally just getting on with it! She was and remains inspiring to me.
What a crazy year, but … it was just one year compared to the WWII war years. We … as in the U.S.A. … are an incredibly whiny bunch. I am appalled … sometimes … BUT there are some stellar folks out there.
Refika from Istanbul!! She and her team are so full of joy and love for food! I love the Turkish spices and breads and everything. The above rice pudding is my Easter dessert. Go watch! Even if you are not a love of cooking … I almost guarantee that you will LOVE Refika and her team.
Lily’s Loaf … Good grief!!! This young woman started a micro bakery from her home. It is doing well. She is doing well. My favorite thing is how much she is learning and sharing from other bakers. Lily shares links and thoughts and ideas. It can be challenging to admit that you don’t know it all :) … and asking or looking for help from more experienced people … I absolutely LOVE that dear Lily is not only sharing that she is learning … but that she is LISTENING to experienced bakers, micro-bakery persons, etc.
This is an older pre-professional video from Nikki at Kitchen Sanctuary. BUT, it is going to be my Easter Dinner! And the latest from KS are super-wonderful videos. I have a number of NIkki’s recipes on my “to make” list.
Meanwhile, at the fambly Summers…
My Emmett … next to me
After the first daylight walk.
Bunny Rabbit survived until Easter morning – YEA … Happy Easter to all from Emmett and me.
Early October 2020, I started on a looped yarn throw (now done!!!) and a crochet sampler blanket.
The sampler blanket was a subscription thing: yarn, video and written tutorial for 3 blocks every month … 30 blocks altogether. (craft projects)
I got stalled on the crochet project at block 9. I received the next 3 months yarn, etc. and after finishing the loop yarn throw was gung ho to get back to the afghan …
BUT.
There was one block in the 1st nine that was a complex repeat of 5 rows. Even the video tutorial said: “do whatever you need to do to keep track of rows…” After undoing things multiple times, I ended up printing each row’s instructions in VERY LARGE type with highlighting – 1 row to a page. I shuffled the 5 pages as I worked each row. It was not much fun and visually, I was not that fond of the open pattern.
When block 10 looked to be similar, I groaned and thought about a strategy … and then … THEN, I said … NO!!!
First, I thought to repeat the blocks that I enjoyed (visually and working) and then … I can’t remember how I happened on crocheted granny squares.
But, I was enlightened and I made a trial square with the afghan yarn. SO.MUCH.FUN.
Then, I dove down the YouTube rabbit hole of granny square tutorials.
And then I saw this and shame on me, I neglected to get the link … but I was inspired. I thought … I can join the 9 squares I have completed, and do some grannies for a kind of border and “Bob’s your uncle”, I will have a nice “back of the chair” thing that I like and enjoyed making.
So above is the 9 squares joined and a base row for ???? To the right are some trial granny squares. I am undecided at the moment as to how I will proceed …
And a note … the 9 joined squares are not quite as wonky as they appear in this photo! Plus, I will block and square things up with more border between the 9 and a surround of grannies.
When I bought this house and furnished this room … which I have always called “the boys room” as the counter high table (originally thought to be a craft table) has been home to cat food and there used to be a cat tree by the window … But, after losing Auggie, I did a small reno … rearranged and freshened and it is currently the craft room.
So. A crafting area to the left. To the right, what looks like a small chest is actually a “shell”, open in the back, that hides my ice cream maker and a fryer. Underneath: carrier, footstool awaiting recovering and a small freezer.
Above, the open back of the pseudo chest housing the appliances … I bought the “chest” on Etsy several years ago and love it. And Auggie’s cremains are in a beautiful box with a brass nameplate on top of the chest … so a kind of companion, in his spot, as I work quietly on a project.
I typically work for a bit, standing at the table … a break from sitting at the computer. Emmett lies near on the floor or on the day bed. So, although I am crafting, it is still the boys room.
I find the crochet work very relaxing and calming. I wrote above that I work quietly, but I often listen to a podcast as I’m working and lately have been listening to Dr. Susan David’s series on Emotional Agility. I listed to her Ted Talk titled the same, in the early days of the Pandemic. I found my way back to her words as I deal with the loss of Auggie. I will link a few things at the end of this post. I am finding her talks very helpful.
Back to crafting.
In addition to finding the crochet work calming, I really enjoy crochet tutorials on YouTube. I think the nature of explaining and showing how to do the stitches, lends itself to a slow, measured explanation and I find that peaceful. And I wanted ideas and techniques for joining the squares, doing the border … and the more I watched and looked, the more things I want to try.
The quilt above, that is now on the back of one of the living room chairs … it is nearly in tatters. It was a gift from a friend, over 20 years ago. Dogs and cats and life … but I LOVE the colors. SO … next project a replacement granny square thing in similar colors maybe …
I have bought a lot of yarn (another order due tomorrow…) It is all on sale! And at first, I was scared into buying a lot of each because of “lot” dyes. Now, I think, it is not that important (the lot dye) as I’m planning multiple colors. We will see.
I exchanged thoughts with Margaret (long time blog reader living in Greece and super, wonderful knitter!) Thank you, Margaret! I have since ordered small samples of various types of yarn: cotton, merino wool, bamboo and blends. The afghan and current samples were worked in “acrylic”. I hope I love the more natural fibers!
And I have some more storage options in mind. Watching the videos and seeing other’s yarn stashes … what I’m thinking is a lot is NOTHING!!
Outside, Spring is trying. I saw the first Robin today! I am not a Robin fan, but still … they are harbingers of Spring :)
And…
Those little rosebud looking things are smaller than the nail on my little finger. They are the beginning of this year’s succulents in my little front porch garden.
Emmett-y Emmett … at my feet looking out for deer or squirrels or turkeys!
Happy, happy dog to be outside!
I am happy to be outside also. Yes, I have shed my share of tears on a few of our walks, but mostly, the fresh air, the wind in the trees, the mountains, the sun and the sky … and the companionship of Emmett make for heart healing… work in progress.
The links below. What I very much like about Dr. David’s talks is that she starts with her kind of “buzz words”, but then explains them and THEN says: “here is what that looks like in real life”. THAT is the key for me, the real life examples that explain how the concepts might be applied. I don’t feel left with a “pie in the sky” psycho-babble concept that sounds nice but I have no idea how it might work for me :) .
I think this trailer is a good place to start. If you watch this short trailer and Dr. Susan David’s thoughts resonate with you, then … you can search for her Ted Talk or videos on Emotional Agility as well as a podcast with Brene Brown titled: Toxic Positivity (OH, yes … this hit home for me!)
Another short YouTube video that was helpful to me currently:
In a nutshell, World Water Day is a United Nations observance day that highlights the importance of fresh water.
Fresh water.
Fresh water is something most of us take for granted. I will say that I do NOT take it for granted because for the past 20 years, I have lived in homes that had their own well. And the water from those wells is wonderful. In my current home, it is spectacularly wonderful: tastes GREAT, minimal issues with mineral stuff … it is GREAT water and I am beyond thrilled that I am able to pump it out of the ground and into my house.
I believe that the quality of water I have, contributes greatly to my success with natural leaven for my baking. I love coffee and tea and other water based beverages … so, YEA to great water.
BUT.
Overall, in the world, things are not as good.
Predictions are that by 2050, more than half of the world’s population could be water-stressed. That may not be in my lifetime, but it will certainly be the lifetime of the generations younger than me. It is only one of the horrific climate change issues.
In my local paper, recently … someone wrote a letter to the editor which admonished the “fear mongering” of climate change activists. The gist was “the climate has always been changing.” Well, yes it has and now it approaching critical mass.
If we do not work together to mitigate water issues, temperature issues, i.e. global climate change critical impacts … our children and our children’s children may not have a viable planet to live on.
Water Day 2021.
Look it up.
Think about it.
Decide what you can do.
For the record, the only reason that I know about Water Day 2021 is because of my following the Vendee Globe 2020 sailing race. The Vendee Globe skippers are naturally concerned about water and many of them collected data as they sailed the world’s oceans in the race.
And as I have followed their race posts as well as their after race posts… WATER!!!
