The new Boud. Just like the old Boud

Saturday I was reminded about granola, which I haven't made for ages. So I did.

And here's the airtight container, where it just fits.  Walnuts, almonds, dried cranberries, cinnamon, seasalt, oats, agave syrup, honey.

I like this as a cereal with milk, or a snack. I keep the clumps intact to make it finger food.

Then Sunday I found a couple of ideas,  originally going to make an olive tapenade to go with a potato dish. Then I decided to just add the olives in with the onions, garlic and potatoes. All sauteed in olive oil, then an egg broken over.

Here it's served with spinach and cooked carrots. The drink you see is great.

It's a turmeric lime ginger cordial 

Some of those limes you saw recently, and that fresh ginger, with the last of the great Tellicherry black peppercorns, go into the mixture which you blend then strain. 

You can add club soda, but I didn't have any. It occurs to me that for people who like spirits, this might be a nice cocktail with gin or vodka. For me it was good just chilled and still.  There's more for tomorrow.

Wednesday is the official birthday celebration, which will consist of Handsome Son cooking lunch here, probably some chicken garlic and crusty roll combo, then we'll get out the box of Christmas stuff to strew around. Between his cooking and the decorating, the place will look like a warzone.  Fun times.

Meanwhile on birthday evening, Gary and another friend brought over a chocolate cake to share, and at the end of their visit, left me with a couple more slices.

I have started a pair of gloves using the right size crochet hook. What a difference. 

My hand is fine. Just shows it's a Good Thing to use the right tools where possible. This from a person who once replaced all the chains in the downstairs double hung, very heavy old,  windows at the old house using only a steak knife. No tools available, long story.

The jigsaw puzzle is still on the table from Thanksgiving, so I may give up on it. It's nice but not gripping.  Then the table will be free to put a cloth on.

Happy day everyone! Thank you for all your wishes and messages, they were great to read and enjoy.

Granola, yogurt, and freecycle

Yesterday was about returning to hippie food. Granola and yogurt happened. Enough for about a week of power eating.

Breakfast for now, though, is cranberry sauce on toast. When you think about it, cranberries, sugar and lemon juice really make jam. That's my reasoning anyway.

I also ordered a couple of treats ahead of time for various December events, pictures when they arrive.

And, partly as a response to the national law that requires people to shop the day after Thanksgiving, I went my contrarian way and freecycled some artworks. 

They've all been exhibited, the ink drawing in a fairly prestigious juried show, and they've run their course with me. The recipient was happy, so that's better than sitting in my loft.

Elsewhere, Liz Hinds, see her blog, she's lovely, writes occasionally about absent mindedness, reminding(!) me of a recent attempt I made to boil an egg for tea. 

I put the little pan of water in to boil, forgot to set the timer, and went away. Arrived back later to a hissing noise, a skim of water, spitting as it dried. Just in time to avoid burning the pan. Which was okay, as it turned out, because I'd also forgotten to put an egg in.

Happy day, everyone, when you boil an egg remember to add the egg.

Photo AC

Misfits and decor

 Yesterday's Misfits box brought the makings of granola, among other things 

And a pumpkin for the doorstep for a few days before becoming soup

This is my entire Fall decorating. When the weather turns wintry, the wooden cat comes indoors.

The beauty of fruit, never fails 

And here's the granola, oats, walnuts, dried apricots, soaked overnight, cut small, caraway seeds, vanilla, dried cranberries.

Plus its friend, the yogurt in action. Notes on the granola: I forgot how oily walnuts are, and next time I'll toast them first to release oil before baking them. I might rebake them a bit. It tastes fine, particularly when you get a hit of caraway, but it's less crunchy than the last batch. Definitely edible.

And, as my tired back could explain, I removed the zinnias, hauling them into the trees to feed the earth and shelter little animals. So here's the meter, accessible to whoever comes to change it for a new updated version.

And here's where I think the hibiscus will be, if it ever arrives, supposedly last week, but maybe they're waiting for cooler weather to ship it.

Happy day,  everyone, knitting group this afternoon, all being well.  The sock is looking more and more psychedelic as it goes.

The good news is that I can use a second ball of yarn for the second sock, so it will be a pair, and I won't have to knit a third sock to make a point 

I'm returning the final season of Suits, to the same library, ready for the quiz. I'd certainly like to know who thought peplums were a great idea. They certainly frump up even the most beautiful actors, gah. Maybe they were a thing when Suits came out.

Anyway, change of viewing pace, I've requested the first season of Sherlock, so we'll see. 

And, for listening, I hugely recommend Rachel Maddow reading Blowout. So much explanation of events and disasters in the fuel industry that didn't get coverage over the years. She's an engaging reader and a brilliant writer.

Ottoman fiber arts, Freecycle and granola

 Yesterday the Textile Museum and others presented a really intriguing program on the movement of textiles and artisans around the Ottoman Empire and beyond, largely because of  political forces. The map gives an idea of the general region discussed.

Dr Phillips wrote the book and is the sort of seemingly effortless presenter who has terrific knowledge of the  techniques, history and languages involved in her subject.

The slides are dated and labeled and sourced well enough to tell anyone interested quite a bit about this aspect of textile history, also some etymology, bringing two great interests together for me.

The weaving structures range from tabby to twill to samite, which I had thought was a cloth, but it's a weave structure.

This weaving uses angora goat hair, and I believe the word is related to Ankara. The item name, velense, derives from Valencia, and indicates the journey of the Jewish weavers expelled in the 1492 expulsion of the Jews. They took their skills and materials east and you see an example here. A lot of things happened out of Spain, that year, as our indigenous people know all too well.

Indian makers influenced the use of silk and precious metals in their very expensive cloth,  which, when artisans had to economize in hard times, were replaced by cheaper metals and threads.

Dr Phillips gave a special shout out to the photographers doing the setups to get these images for her book.

here, in India, modern weaving still uses traditional band designs, on a more modern loom.

Here are some researchers' deconstructions of the weaving

This one is interesting, because the original calligraphy, st the top,  was squashed up, even omitting syllables, to fit into a preexisting design size, lower image. There's surmise that it was a rush order, to celebrate possibly a  victory or an accession to power, maybe both, with a short  deadline. Even then this happened!

This was a real adventure with an expert, into a textile era I knew little about, but now would like to know more. I messaged a thank you note to the speaker.

Meanwhile, back to the present, yesterday I had a great urge for granola and next thing I knew, I'd made a batch. Almonds, cranberries, avocado oil, honey, cinnamon, lemon zest, whoa!

As I was picking out clothes yesterday, I noticed yet again a few items I like and never wear, so I took them out, posted them on Freecycle, and within a few minutes was reminded that there are odd ducks everywhere.

The three items on the right make a nice outfit, and the crop tops go with the rayon pants very well. I have another pair of these pants, no need for both, in fact I've been thinking of converting them to a skirt, lovely deep pockets,  but wide legs that can make me trip, but that means plenty of fabric..The tunic is a linen mix, the shirt cotton and the pants rayon, the crop tops  knitted cotton. Mainly  Indian and Indonesian, the rayon pants fair trade. The blue top has applique I painted and stitched on.

The odd duck messaged me very quickly saying she was interested in picking up. No indication of day and time as requested. 

I looked her up, found she was a brand new account, so instead of ignoring her, I figured she hadn't quite got the hang, and messaged that she needed to note my request and give estimated day and time. I'd noted the town name twice in the post, to help estimate if the distance was worth it.. 

Whereupon she got back and said she'd done that. Which she hadn't. Then she messaged twice more, once to say she lives in a town about an hour north of here, and hoped that was okay by me. I wondered what it had to do with me and the price of bananas, when her third message arrived, and explained she couldn't drive this far.

Yes, you see where this was going! Looked like she hoped I'd not only give her the things, but do a two hour round trip in the process. Evidently she confused free cycle with a free delivery service. So I  didn't continue with the pen pal exchange. 

Meanwhile a very stable and businesslike, different,  lady messaged with day, today, time, whatever I wanted, and the parcel of things was gone in an hour to a happy free cycler.

Happy day, everyone, look out for people who are not quite with the rules, and crafty, too, they're everywhere, everywhere, I tell you!