Waiting, breathing, hoping

Tuesday I dressed in election Day appropriate gear

Best pearls for Kamala, iconic jewelry, and blue and yellow for freedom for Ukraine. This picture went viral on Spoutible!

I went online and posted helpful calming things including the last of the cosmos I picked 

Handsome Son visited in the afternoon, warm enough to sit outside with our tea and Indian treats, most of which he took care of! He enjoyed them a lot, including the spicy bits.  

Squirrels and chipmunks were hanging around a lot, since they've realized that humans outside eating probably means great crumbs for them. 

He left with the rest of the snacks and the leg weights I gave him. He's perfectly fine after the test, all back to normal again. It was great to have a distraction from my own thoughts for a while. 

And I'm off soon to my online election watching party, hoping for good news. The research I've seen looks good for Kamala. We'll see.

We may not have results very quickly, but I refuse to be daunted by that, after all we've gone through. We can go through a bit more!

Happy day everyone, we've got high hopes, we've got highighigh hopes 🇺🇸🥂

Medical appointment, cosmos still

Wednesday held a sleepless night because of anxiety about Handsome Son doing prep for a colonoscopy, his first. The prep schedule involved taking the rx liquid in two sessions, one at 6pm, the other at, this is not a typo, 3am. He called the medical center to check if this was correct. Yes.  He managed fine but his mother was a wreck! 

It really doesn't matter how old your kid is, he's your kid! Then I had high anxiety about being over there early enough to drive him to the surgical center, and about finding it, and about having a passenger for the first time in 20, that is also not a typo, years. 

He managed fine, I needed to come home and sleep, which I did. He was wobbly, so first I walked him up the stairs to his condo,  and wanted to make him a cup of tea and a snack. He ended up doing it because he insisted I wouldn't be able to find anything and I wouldn't do it right..his home, his stuff!

Then he was looking much better, normal color, talking fine, so I eventually made it home after what turned out, after all my drama, to be a perfectly successful enterprise, some minor issues found, all very manageable. 

Bowl of chicken soup, and I fell asleep for an hour, woke to find he'd texted to check on me! Then a pot of tea out on the deck, beautiful warm day, no mosquitoes after a couple of light frosts. I fell asleep again while officially reading more Barchester. 

My view

 Cosmos laughs at frost. 

Online meeting with friends this evening, and that's Wednesday. So glad it's done. I can handle a lot for myself, but when it's Handsome Son, who's perfectly fit and capable, well, that's different.

And one bright spot: Wednesday's supper was bangin'.  Baby bella mushrooms, firm tofu seasoned with red chili oil and that umami spice mix I made, blurt of soy sauce, in an omelette. 

Cheered me right up, just five star. Having the seasonings ready made, learned from Yeung Man Cooking, is the difference between long cooking when you're hungry and fast great food.  No pictures because it wasn't pretty, just delicious.

My street is full of houses decorated with lights for Diwali, and frantic police reminders that the state is tinder dry, so fireworks are not a good idea.  In fact this year they're banned, because we're at high risk for fire, very unusual around here 

Here's the speckly shirt in action 

Happy day everyone! Try not to get as worked up as I, if possible. Eat well.   Enjoy Diwali, don't burn the place down.

 

Thoughts on touch, and other vital issues

I read today about hugging, touching, getting a massage and yet again feel like the little match girl outside the shop window. I hate casual touching, can't bear the thought of a massage, and hug sparingly.  

I come from a family who don't grab each other to show their bonding, and I think it may be an inherited trait, maybe in the DNA.  I cringe at the concept of the pedi!

There's pressure around this, around the notion that all humans need touch to thrive, and that touch is  healing. Maybe so, but it's on a scale, I'm guessing. I've been told outright that there's something wrong with people like me. Oh, no!

My need is minimal. During the pandemic when we weren't touching at all if possible,  some people really suffered withdrawal.  I only fleetingly missed it, in fact I was hugely relieved not to have to duck out of hugging and  friendly handshakes.  I'm a believer in consent -- your need to touch me doesn't supersede my need for you not to!

I think it's related to touch sensitivity. A hand on my arm is like an electric shock, unless I'm reciprocating. Interesting thoughts, and yours are welcome, too,  including disagreement if it's considerate and not dismissive. 

Moving on, today is a better energy day, after several naps yesterday and a full night's sleep. I think I'm very lucky there, from what I hear of people for whom sleep is a rare and wonderful event. Being relatively pain free is a big part of it, lucky there, too. 

I think the free weight exercising I've done for years probably helped there. My rheumatologist, who's actually my bone doctor, tells me it's very likely it kept the joints jointed.

Meanwhile, the cosmos are still blooming away, whipped around in the fall wind,  they don't care, what an example. All the other flowers are finished, so the remaining butterflies and bees are crowding onto the cosmos, last chance around for pollen. They're practically handing out numbers.

And good news on the tipping I reported to management recently: one lot of junk around the lovely hollow tree has been removed, and the other, the boxes and furniture spilling everywhere, is clearly in the process. They're even emptying the patio.

 So I emailed my thanks to the manager.  He'll have a pleasant email to come in to tomorrow.

And here's a couple of thoughts

Happy day, everyone! Pick the thoughts you like and go with them, judgment-free zone in operation!

One thought I went with was the National Popular Vote issue. My state, NJ, already uses the popular vote for President, not the electoral college. 

I emailed my state legs.  to encourage their continuing support. Rather than try to abolish the EC, better put workarounds in place to render it irrelevant. We need more states to do this.  Just sayin. And here's how:

Thursday, new water heater, Misfits

When Greg the plumber said Joe would be here first thing Thursday, he wasn't kidding. Eight am, van here, Joe unloading equipment, by 11am, job done, hot water resulted, my bank account emptied.

The old heater leaving 

New one ready to unbox. Then the new one in place, and Joe wrote the date on. The old one was far past its lifetime, but who's counting. 

That was a 50 gallon tank, but modern 50 gallons are too big for the space what with better insulation, new regs. So I have a 40 gallon now, which fits. Plenty for me, since anyway I do laundry in cold water. 

In early July we did this with the water heater at the condo. Seems like no time.

In the middle of all this, I took a cosmos break 

Those seeds are repaying me over and over. Definitely doing that again next year.

And there's Misfits. Fortunately, when I ordered,  I had included treats, which I really need today.

Inserted into this picture of the foil cooler bag and freezer blocks out for pickup, is the gallon of paint Gary had changed his mind about and wanted to toss but I said no, I'll Freecycle it for you, and I got a happy taker in minutes, picked up in an hour.

Anyway here's this week's lovely food.

Apples because they're excellent and my morning snack is an apple. Blueberries for breakfast with seedy bread, strawberries to go with chocolate almonds, carrots to go into soup with the pumpkin in the freezer. Scallions to accompany the rest of the chili with cheese grated over, also for some Yeung Man Cooking recipe or other, tba,  with the firm tofu. Cheese because I always need cheese.

It's all in the continuous story of meals around here. If you have a favorite tofu recipe, please let us know.  Always open.

Happy day everyone, I hope you build in nice things for your day. It's as much a part of life as disasters, also easier to plan for.

Tuesday and textiles

I had a bit of time before I left for the knitting group, so I sat outside for a few minutes of doing nothing but look around.

The cosmos are going all out, with all kinds of insects busy around them, including this monarch 

At the Tuesday Knitting Group, the Spurtzleur was at work, finally. M brought in a piece of Shetland roving, and learned in no time. She and I have been trying for ages to get this together, roving and Spurtzleur.

She spins with a wheel and a spindle and is now enthusiastic about this new spinning tool.

Another member suggested to the librarian that there be a separate series of classes for people to learn in order to feed into and grow our group. She even offered to teach a crochet series, and we all had our input into what when and where!  

Here's a donated box from which participants can get supplies, and the library will provide crochet hooks. I'll add to the supplies, with less chunky yarn 

And we'll have a display of our own projects for a few days in November, so I'll pick out a couple of items. P. the librarian is very enthusiastic!

Other talk ranged over the difficulty of linen spinning, M having gone to a workshop and found it very hard on the hands,  rehoming the  recorder, the difficulty of online music meetings, so much difficulty! And Diwali, so much fun.

And a report on Rhinebeck, not very flattering -- not enough sheep! Too commercial! Too huge! Anyway not to the taste of the person who went. She much preferred the sheepy  Maryland Sheep and Wool and the NJ much smaller one, but with the requisite sheep breeds. Different audiences.

This was such a rich meeting, new learning in spinning, new beginner classes planned, project display in the works. 

At home again, Textiles and Tea brought 

A teacher, owner of ETC,  a textile center in Oregon, tour director to Egypt and Sweden, next stop Peru. She also designs and weaves. Her linen and lace classes are among a range of weaving skills she teaches. Her hairy studio assistant is on duty with her.

I included this because I like to see the guest's surroundings

HGA (Hand weavers Guild of America) prize-winning linen and lace hanging.

 

Observing a worker in Egypt demonstrating a technique. 

Every week there's an interesting fiber worker on HGA's Textiles and Tea.  Suzie, judging from online comments, is a beloved teacher.

I knitted a new fingerless glove while I watched. Another rich Tuesday, following my love of textiles and the people involved in them.

Happy day, everyone, follow your bliss or whatever you like to follow.

Darning. Again. Bee on cosmos. Black walls

Sunday was about slow everything. Lovely sunny walk, cool morning, warming up to 70s later.  More junk tipping on the common area, and I took pictures, sent them to management requesting a cleanup, with the numbers of the two houses, so the contractors can find them. 

At home the cosmos is the last flowering plant and it's had a lot of traffic, from this fat bumble?bee I think, to brown butterflies and other stripy buzzy fellers 

 

How lovely it is with the morning sun shining through the petals, six front ones, two behind 

And I stitched a bit more on my autumn leaves, with people sending me pictures of their mothers' crewel work from long ago. It's usually English crewel, more solid and filled in than American. 

American Colonial era crewel was airy, more delicate designs, largely because crewel wool was hard to get in the colonies,  so people had to work with less material. To look at the early bed hangings you'd never know those wonderful designs arose partly from scarcity. No scarcity of great talent, though.

As I was doing dishes (says Boud virtuously, just to show I got around to it) my assistance was called on to look at Gary's sample painting of the black wall. 

He's not just doing the alcove. It's the whole fireplace side of the room. Oh. I liked the warmest sample, and turns out I agree with his daughter on that. So that convinced him! It's very rich. Also very dark.

From fancy stitching to plain, I found yet another sock needing help, so I inserted my glasses case and got to work.

with Kate of the Last Homely House knitting and chatting in the background as I darned along. If you knit socks it pays to know how to repair them,too, especially if you're a walker. Under the toes goes first.

And here's an artwork of spices, many of which blogista cooks will recognize right off.

Since I've been making my own mixes, umami mix, garam masala, baharat, berbere, curry powder, I've come to appreciate the flavors so much more than buying mixes. 

It's fun to handle and grind them, wonderful scents. Also things like mayo, red chili oil, are just better, I think because they're fresh and personal. Even grinding your own pepper as needed, has more flavor than ready ground.  I don't grind salt, but some people do. And I do buy sugar as crystals, not in a loaf!

My spice taste is more south Asian and middle eastern, and Ethiopian,  than Mexican and US Southwest. Though I do make chili sometimes. 

In fact now that I have ground turkey to hand, also various beans, I might do that today. I'll check my World Central Kitchen cookbook. 

They have recipes for feeding huge crowds which they kindly present for family size, too. Chili is a big crowd food, needing vats rather than my little pot. They're still feeding people hit by the latest hurricanes, I believe.

About which, the NJ first responders are home again after working in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.  

Happy day everyone, eat well, rest a bit, enjoy what you can.