A nothing sort of day

Got up to fine drizzle that only got heavier as the morning went on but did manage to get Ben walked before it worsened.

He had a treat as I went up one of the lanes to drop off some books and herb plants, we haven't walked up there for ages and he thoroughly enjoyed sniffing his way along.

I did some washing in the hope that the weather would clear, instead it ended up in the dryer. The hand washing is waiting till tomorrow, if it is still rainy it may go into the greenhouse to dry.

No real housework tasks, just the normal washing up, bathroom and kitchen whizz round and pootle about moving things from here to there (and back again in some cases)

I have turned the heel and worked the gusset decreases on the first Unicorn sock. It will not be for me, I loved the yarn in the skein, and loved it nearly as much after winding into 2 balls. Once I had knitted the ribbed cuff though I had fallen out of love and almost out of like.

It is pretty, there are some lovely colours in it B U T it is not for me. It is far too subdued, I think that there is just too much blue for my taste. I am sure that someone will like it, at the moment it may well end up in Francesca,s birthday bag.

Once the pair is done I will post a picture.

After an early lunch I had to take a trip to Neath, the dentist yuk, I had a quick look round but nothing caught my eye. After an uneventful drive home it is tea o'clock and then it will be time to feed Ben.
 I should have posted Francesca,s new socks off but forgot to take them, a job for the morning.

You know what comes next.......


            TTFN                                                  Pam

Lovely day made better.

I did all yesterdays jobs this morning as I did the fridge and cutlery thing yesterday.

My new friend Jess came to knit and natter today and, of course, her gorgeous daughter Ivy came as well. She is not a lover of car journeys but slept all the way home.

There were only a handful of us but the natter was just as good. Ivy was very well behaved, and on her first visit,  and checked the whole shop out.

We had a visitor, who only lives 20 minutes or so away from me, a spinner and dyer !! deep joy. 

Tina has an online yarn shop Loobylou yarns with a small but perfectly formed selection of luxury yarns at very affordable prices.

There will be Yarn Clubs, more joy, and she has Alpacas joy upon joy.

I am happy to say that she did not come empty handed, by arrangement with Deb there was a basket of goodies to be squeezed, stroked and bought. Of course I did,but only the one ball. It is destined to be a gift and will be flying off later in the year.

Debs had manged to get a little more of the Pulse yarn so a sweater quantity and a pattern came home with me. 

How good can it get, and there is still Wonder Wool to come next month.

Now I have to get dinner on the go, something with a root vegetable mash I think, comfort food to make the day complete.

Then to add the final flourish I have a new sock cast on. This should be for me, just a vanilla pair using my Unicorn Poop yarn.

Just 5 rows of rib, but it will soon grow.

             TTFN                                                     Pam

Crumbs in the cutlery

How does it get there? Who puts it there? 
My cutlery drawer is constantly having to be emptied and cleaned because of little bits that seem to make a bee line for it. They are not food crumbs, I do all my prep on the other side of the kitchen.

It can't be me as there are never ends of yarn or bits of cotton thread in there, I do tend to leave a trail behind me at times.

Oh well, not to worry it all got cleaned again this morning. I also had a major sort out in the fridges, I have a small under counter one for all my veg and any fruit that needs cold storage and the tall fridge freezer one has everything else.
All started jars and bottles live in here along with dairy and any salad stuff lives in the drawer. I also keep raw meat and fish on the bottom shelf.

fridge freezer, see all the miss-matched containers.

started pickles, chutneys etc.

started jams and jellies.

The small fridge, the top shelf holds all my stir fry veg and that is empty, I cooked it all yesterday, so the baskets are out for cleaning.

I have been fishing around on the shelves looking for the right jar of pickle or the right bottle of sauce and the glass shelves make it a rattly noisy job. Enough was enough, now everything is stored, in family groups, in plastic containers. I did not go on a shopping fest but used the things that I had already. I am not a lover of plastic but it is very convenient and easy to keep clean. 

This is not a new idea for me, I have been storing my herbs and spices like this for years.

The curry basket.

I have others with Italian, Chinese, Random and Baking spices in, it makes it so easy to get the right mix, just lift the basket out and all are to hand. I keep them in the pantry in the dark, they last longer that way. I buy ones that I use most in bulk, cumin and turmeric for curries and mixed spice for baking. 

There is a basket, bigger, for pulses as I buy these in larger quantities as well.

You get the idea, it is all about making things as easy and simple as possible.

The rest/exercise treatment for my elbow has done its job and I am pain free now, I did some more of Fran's socks this morning while I watched Katy at Inside number 23 on YouTube.

The weather today has been a mixed batch, drizzle and cold wind, warm sun shine and grey clouds and rain, pick a season, any season. The only things we haven't had are freezing fog and snow OOPS I never said that, the weather Gremlins may be reading.

Knit and natter tomorrow, yippee.

The time has come, the Walrus said, to speak of many things. But not until tea has been made and drunk.

                           TTFN                                         Pam

.

Sock it to me.

I finished the orange heeled socks, they are brothers not twins, the heels are padded for wearing with boots. Not to my taste but then they are not for me. Another pair has been ordered but have to take their place on the list.

I cast on another for Francesca in this Heart & Sole from Sirdar, these will be twins with afterthought heels in a solid pink.

I am not sure where my mind has been for the last few days, I lost track of what day it was mid week and it has been downhill all the way. 

This morning I finally caught up and know that it is Saturday. I blame the weather, we have had a day of almost summer followed by winter, spring and then winter again. Most disconcerting.

One of my Rhubarb  plants has thrown in the towel and started to run to seed. Fingers crossed that no more follow suit.

I am having a short break from knitting, not by choice I hasten to add, my left elbow is painful and I want to rest it. Now that is back to front, when I knit I hold my in one position with the elbow bent. 

What I need to do for a day or so is to keep it moving, my first attempt will be "doing out" the kitchen cupboards. They are not in dire need but an extra tidy and wipe out never goes amiss. It has been on the radar for a few days, I have already changed things around to clear my work tops. Now I will take the time to fully organise them all.

Today is warmish and damp with the odd blast of cold wind coming of the Morriston mountain. I have a little hand washing but not enough to worry about, it can wait a while.

Last nights dinner was a fast fix, I had some sauce left from the squash and coconut curry so used that up. I just rough diced  onion, peppers, garlic and finely diced some fresh ginger, sweated it all in coconut oil added some butter beans and the left over sauce. It was lovely and very filling, I had to wait a good while before I could make my mint tea.

I have to dash now, a quick trip to have a small job done on the car.

The time has flown by this morning.

                         TTFN                                          Pam

The Sweater saga finishes.

Here it is, Fran,s sweater all assembled and now folded up waiting for her next visit. I am pleased with it and happy that I have enough yarn left to make her a hat. The collar sits wide but is not at all floppy, probably because of the high wool content. I may knit the pattern again for both of us in the purple and yellow yarns.. A sweater and a hat for £12 is a real bargain.

I resumed knitting the dk socks last night, the first is finished and the second is cast on and halfway down the cuff. Using the orange yarn for the heels might mean that I get both socks from 100 grams. 

Today is glorious and sunny, I have 2 window boxes down and ready to plant up with primulas. There are also some seed packets out ready, I just need to get the trays filled and soaked.

I am going to take Ben down to the park in Garnant later and see how the wild garlic is progressing, fingers crossed there will be some leaves already.

Dinner tonight is a butternut squash and coconut curry, it is the recipe from Sunday Brunch, I will be using squash instead of sweet potato. I did have the potatoes but baked them for last night. I filled them with onion, celery and sweetcorn in a garlicky sauce and served with a chopped salad, yumilicious.

Now I am off to do a quick garden walk before lunch, there are lots of bulbs flowering and some need marking so they can be moved later in the year.

                   TTFN                                                 Pam

In the red again

That is yarn using  out of stash as opposed to adding.

In February I added 2900 grams of yarn to stash, all but 600 of that is for birthday and other gifts during the year.

I took 1500 grams out and most has been knitted up. The main exception is the 200 grams for my shawl, this is not a short term project, I knit on it as and when I need a mindless project. It has been to knit and natter once and will probably go next week, it is great for working on when I watch something on TV that I don't want to miss a word of. Like the new Gryff Rhys Jones train journey across Africa.

This month I have knitted 7 pairs of socks, Fran,s sweater and almost 1/3rd of the shawl. I still have to sew the sweater together before I can take a photo.

I could have got that done, and finished the pair of socks that are on my needles, but I want to enjoy my knitting. If I turn it into a race against the clock all the pleasure will evaporate. I want to enjoy the whole process not just the finish.

Kit and natter was good fun, we celebrated Debs birthday with a selection of cheese and crackers, cookies, cupcakes and some glorious home made Welsh cakes brought in by Erica.

I did indulge and consequently had a very light meal made from fridge pickings last night.

Then I added fuel to the flames by splitting a jammy doughnut and filling it with whipped cream.

I justified this as for the month of March I will not be on a diet as such but a full on healthy eating campaign. Almost a detox really, Vegan for the main part and vegetarian for the rest with a very small amount of dairy. The only milk that I consume is in my porridge and the rest of my dairy intake is cheese, that is going to be pared back as well.
I have put on a bit of weight since having to cut right back on my walking and have not altered my eating habits enough to compensate. I will be making the most of the month and trying out lots of new recipes and (hopefully) ingredients.

Nothing will be wasted as the fridge is almost empty of all the things that I want to exclude, just a little wedge of Stilton and around 1/4 cup of cream, this will combine with leeks, celery and garlic for soup. 

In April and May I will be working my way through the freezers with the intention of getting the chest freezer empty. I then hope to fill this with foraged fruit and  vegetables and fruit from my garden that I can not eat fresh. 

I know that the best laid plans can go awry but I do have a groundwork to build upon. I will be flexible and I will be keeping a weather eye out for RTC gems when I shop. The raspberries that I picked up for around 15 p a pack are still providing me with tasty treats, lovely sprinkled on my breakfast porridge. 
All the ones from my garden were made into jam.

I have done a little hand washing and need to get it on the line while the sun shines.

                      TTFN                                                Pam

The best laid plans.....

The sewing day has been postponed, to begin with I realised that there was a dentist visit this afternoon. DUH.
Then after the breakfast washing up was done I had the bright idea of bagging up the recycling (I shove it in a stacking shelf unit day to day). Once done I made the executive decision to wash the unit, then of course I did the wall behind. That led to emptying the utility room and doing a deep clean, I just couldn't help it.
All has been restored and in 10 minutes I am off to Neath.
Tomorrow is knit and natter so sewing day will be Wednesday, fingers crossed.

To sooth my soul I will knit this evening and watch an old movie, or two.

Tomorrow I may have to rejig the kitchen cupboards in the morning. Since I have changed my shopping and eating habits there are many gaps. This could mean room to clear the work tops of everything but the kettle and toaster. Deep joy at that idea. I hate having to shuffle things around when I fancy a baking session.

Toodle pip, I am off to the torture chamber.

                     TTFN                                         Pam