Baking with Betty

 

Betty was hard at work this weekend. She made two loaves of bread and a giant heap of waffles. 

A couple of piles of my favorite burnt crackers. I love these things.

English muffins-which were a shocking success. I couldn't believe that those flat little discs of dough would puff up like that in the skillet. Even better, they have all the nooks and crannies that you would expect in an English muffin. 

I pushed Betty's luck with some not so great bagels though. I really need to up my bagel game so some homework is in the future.  Right now Betty and I need a rest so she's taking a break in the fridge for a few days now that the freezer is full again. We'll try those bagels again next week. 

To Market To Market

 

It was cold, windy and threatening to rain but we still made our way down to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning. The fancy lemonade truck was not there this week but Gram's Jams was. The Mister loves jam. He sampled a bit with encouragement from Gram herself and bought a jar of blueberry.

The pickings were still very slim. The Mister bought some peanut butter whoopie pies from the Amish folks. I got a couple of hot house tomatoes, some garlic and a lemon. All I've been eating is sandwiches and a tomato sandwich on sourdough is my favorite.

Speaking of sourdough, back at home I had three Betty's going. One for a loaf, one for a try at English muffins and one just because I need to keep one going. The Mister is off to golf again today so in my free time, if all goes well, I'll be baking all that dough I hope to have proofing in the fridge overnight.

A Long Time Coming

 

This is a VERY important photograph. It's me. I'm knitting and there's a raging thunderstorm going on overhead. I am NOT hiding in the cold, uncomfortable downstairs. I am right where I usually sit because all the trees that terrified me for almost 30 years are GONE. It's taken a lot of money and a lot of ongoing effort to clear the debris but they can no longer do any harm. It's the first thunderstorm I've enjoyed in years. They really are spectacular. 

Playing Chicken

 

The Mister went to play golf yesterday and in my down time I decided to explore the things I can do that don't require too much back action. Spiral Chicken on my new lap frame worked very well. I've decided to make peace with the gray that made me so unhappy last year and just finish the darn thing. It's supposed to be a primitive art form from a time when Etsy did not exist. Rug makers made do with what they had on hand and so should I. Weird little pops of color are to be expected, even encouraged. At least that's what I'm telling myself. 

The Mister's golf outing was uneventful minus his new friends.

The golf course usually uses goats to keep the weeds down but this year they've got a nice mixture of sheep and goats. I hope they all know how to duck. 

Speaking of sheep, look what's coming up next week. I've got to get myself back in walking shape asap because the one thing you can count on there is that there is never a place to sit down. 

Ghost Garden

 

It's a good thing no one can see what's going on out back because this is what it looks like. All the water jugs are one thing but now the place is covered in white sacks to keep the deer from eating everything. The only thing that hasn't been munched on is the Ginko. Not yet anyway.

The weather was nice enough for The Mister to cook his dinner for the first time this season on the Blackstone. I'm still not up for much cooking or eating at the moment but I did stand to do the dishes for the first time in weeks. There weren't many dishes to do but to remain upright for even that long was a big deal.

Speaking of a big deal, look at Betty. She's come back to life with a vengeance this time making lots of pretty bubbles. We'll be making waffles after I collect enough discard and I'm hoping to be making bagels this weekend. I might even try some English muffins too. 
 

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.