The New Normal

 

I'm not completely over whatever is ailing my back but I have been able to get back to somewhat of a normal routine with modifications. I found that if I sit on my big ball I could thread those heddles that have been waiting for me for ages. They are all done now so I'm getting close to being able to weave again. 

I had The Mister bring up my big rolling office chair from my downstairs craft room so I could sit comfortably enough to work on the Patchwork quilt again. I finished one more block this week. 

I really, really wanted to get this off of the Ladybug before this weekend's fiber fest so I drug the wheel over to the couch and with help from a pile of pillows I could spin for a while. I've still got a bit more to go but I should be plying soon. 

The weather hasn't been helping things along either. It's been cold and rainy here for the past few days which is not making my old bones happy but my plants are loving it. The blooms on my mystery rhododendron are spectacular this year. It's a mystery plant because the original died years ago. We put a platform over where it was for our dearly departed Mommy cat's hut and she lived there very comfortably for eleven years. When she went over the bridge last year we removed the platform and the hut and immediately this sprung up in that bare patch. It's huge now. Taller than me. I took it as a sign of something but I'm not sure what. 

Even crazier, someone tell me how the Black-eyed Susan got out of the big pot on the front porch and made its way yards away into the front bed seemingly growing out of the rocks that line the sidewalk. I'll never figure out what's going on out there. Every spring brings more puzzles to solve. 

Wednesday WIPs: Turning Corners

 

The heels are all turned on the socks. Someone commented that the blue ones look like sharks last week. It's actually a colorway called Ransverk named for a Norwegian mountain village. I like it because it's a "manly" colorway without being boring. The pink one is the Lantern Night colorway. Both are from Arne and Carlos' Socks and More collection. 

Ta da....one more row finished in section one of the Hue Shift. I've got one more row to do and then this section will be done. If I could just stop having to rip out the blocks that don't line up right, I could be done with this whole afghan in a flash. Those solid blocks throw me every time. 

TNT: In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

 

There was stitching this week. The Mister played golf on Sunday and I put my stitching in my lap and the first two episodes of Star Wars on the TV. Everyone hates on the prequels and I wanted to see why. I saw Episode One in the theaters when it came out but hadn't seen the other three. While I was watching I finished the last of the big trees on the Garden sampler. 

I also finished the first of the side panels on Patchwork Automne. 

As for the movies, I didn't hate them but I thought they were too slick and glossy. I miss the cheesy low tech of the three originals. It was fun seeing the origin stories of some of the characters so ingrained in my psyche that I can still name them all. My boys had all the Star Wars toys back in the day.  I admit to getting goosebumps when that first screen crawl came up with John Williams' pounding intro theme. Believe it or not it was about unfair tariffs and trade blockades being forced on the galaxy by the bad guys which set off a war with the rebels. I kid you not. 

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. 

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.