Wednesday WIPs: On the Balls

 

You'd think with all this down time I'd have a lot of knitting done but I don't. I get a little window in the mornings where I feel human again and then it's all downhill from there. Slowly but surely I've been turning heels on socks while sitting on my big exercise ball. More on that later.

I should have had this row finished on the Hue Shift but I ripped it all out again when the blocks didn't intersect correctly. The solid color blocks are the hardest to get right I'm finding. The red one still isn't where I would like it so I'm most likely going to be ripping it out again after I finish writing this post. 

I'm happier with the April doodle on the Doodle Cowl. I'm going to start the May doodle as soon as I figure out what it will be. 

As for the balls, I was asked a question about them yesterday so here's the details. The big one is a Trideer Large. I use it to sit on when I knit and do core strengthening exercises. I've had it since 2021 and it replaced the one I had in my classroom for many years before that. Lucille Ball is a Fitvid Medium. Right now I'm only using it for decompression exercises. I got them both from Amazon. Hope this helps! 

TNT: Back in Shape

 

I'm still not 100% yet but I'm on the mend thanks to a YouTube series on a channel called Back in Shape from the UK. I could sit up pain free long enough on Saturday to work on Mr. Camel. 

On Sunday I got the branch stitched on Patchwork Automne in a couple of sittings.

Yesterday I could bend my body around my big lap frame long enough to finish that blue tree I started in the Garden.

All thanks to this guy and his technicolor spine demonstrations and simple decompression movements that made a world of difference almost instantly. I'm still not up and running as usual but it's a huge improvement from just a few days ago and getting better every day. 

I'll know I've won this war when I can get back to this. It's going to be a challenge because over the weeks I've been inactive I've lost all my needle stick callouses. My fingers are as smooth as a baby's butt. That's bad. 

Downsizing

 

Betty's been in the refrigerator since her last bread outing. I'm comfortable enough to keep her there now knowing she is easily resurrected. I don't need a large amount of starter held in suspended animation and since her big jars were taking up too much room in an already crowded space, I bought her some smaller ones.

Big difference, right? The big ones will still be used for making big batches of starter for waffles or bagels. The small one will work just fine for the amount you need for bread. 

Betty wasn't the only thing downsized this week. After watching a lot of back pain videos that use exercise balls I realized I needed a smaller one for certain maneuvers. Meet Lucille. Lucille Ball. 

To Market, To Market

 

It's that time of year. The Farmer's Market is back in business on Saturday morning. The Mister has been looking forward to it so I hobbled off with him for a quick stroll around. Pup went in her stroller which I hung onto for dear life. 

It was pretty much the same vendors we usually see but there was something new. I think they sold fancy lemonades but I'm not sure. I do know they had a line around the block. I'll have to investigate further when I'm feeling better. 

There was some decent early produce but I'm still not up to cooking so I passed on it. Mostly it was flowers and plants. Again I passed. I really want to put in some annuals out front but that's not happening. Just keeping what I have watered is enough right now. 

We noticed things being set up near the water and went to explore. If you look between the two people and the blue tent you can see one of the osprey nests that dot the bay. 

It seems they were holding a big festival today in their honor. It looks like it was going to be a lot of fun but it wasn't until later that afternoon and I was done walking for the day. It's nice that the ospreys came back in time for their party this year. They didn't show back up at all last year. It seems the bay osprey have had significant breeding challenges in past years which has drastically cut the population some say by almost 90%. The cause? Starvation due to climate change and pollution. Same as it ever was now with consequences that you can actually see. 

Better Luck Next Time

 

When you wake up to Betty looking like this you have to make bread. 

The starter she made later that morning was equally anxious to get to work. 

And here's where things went haywire. I bought these cute little 6.5 inch banneton baskets right before my back gave up on me and I'd been itching to use them. I needed to increase my little loaf recipe just a tad to fit in them properly and when I did, I increased the hydration percentage of the recipe too much. In baker's speak, I used a 80% hydration ratio when I should have used 70%. 80 is not for beginners. 

I had to wrestle a very wet dough all afternoon and thought I had won the battle when I realized I had not seasoned my new bannetons so I couldn't use them after all. You have to wash them, dry them, mist them with water and then coat them with rice flour. I hadn't done any of that so I had to hurry up and figure out something else for its overnight cold proofing which turned out to be a glass bowl lined with a coffee filter. 

After baking, I knew by looking at it that it wasn't right. It sort of looks like a brain doesn't it? I was scared.

When I cut it, it looked okay but it was gummy. Disappointing.

I toasted a slice and it made a decent little sandwich. The good thing is, as long as Betty is enjoying this warm weather, I can try again. Like today. I'm getting right back on that horse.

Stayin' Alive

 

After a good workout on my exercise ball, I gingerly walked the yard with The Mister as he watered all our new babies. The new rose has settled in nicely I'm happy to report.

I haven't been out there for days and was surprised to see that the little White Pines were covered in new growth. My sweet little babies are growing up!

The Loblollys seem to have gotten over their funk. A while back I had to paint them with a concoction of Neem oil and dish soap to kill whatever gooey thing was happening to their trunks. It seemed to work. They have also been sprouting new growth. 

This is a terrible photo but you can kind of see the little fans on my Ginko tree. I dearly love this thing. I've always wanted a Ginko after reading (about a million times) The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes. The two main characters live on a Ginko lined street in Washington DC and I thought it was charming. 

The two red maples are putting out a lot of leaves. 

I wish I could say the same about the little dogwoods that we planted around this big dogwood on the side of the house. It looks like a deer snacked on them and ate many of the leaves. I hope they recover. It made me awfully sad. I ordered some fruit tree netting for them which should be here today.

The two magnolias that arrived broken are finally showing signs of life but they still look pitiful. We've still got six more trees to plant but with my back issue there is no way I can be digging and hauling right now. If the city shows up with a beef about it, they are just going to have to fine us. We're doing the best we can just to keep all these babies alive. 

Baby Steps

 

I had two tasks to accomplish yesterday. Putting the dry goods away from the grocery order that's been sitting here and putting away the laundry The Mister did yesterday. After they were done I did some ball time and actually knit a few rows on the heels of the pink socks. It didn't feel too bad. 

I picked up the Hue Shift later that afternoon but it didn't go so well so I gave up. When The Mister went off to his birthday lunch I had a good cry and felt better for it. It's funny how so much of who we are is wrapped up in what we do and right now I feel like I'm hobbling around in the twilight zone.

The Mister's birthday might not have been much fun but I did make it up to him by buying him this self propelled mower. Our big riding mower isn't going to get around all the little trees we planted so to keep weeds down we have to have something smaller. It'll be delivered on Friday and I even sprung for it to come assembled.

My big accomplishment of the day was getting Betty back out of the fridge. I'd stuck her in there for the duration and even if I have to deal with her sitting down, I think I can go back to caring for her now. I also put some chili in the crockpot. Real food. I've been living off bowls of The Mister's cereal. Those of you with partners that can cook should count your blessings.  We never think of being old and infirm when we choose our mates. We most certainly should.