Now it's a candyrama

Yesterday, I got out the heath bar, or health bar, making kit I put together a while back, and made this

Here I inscribed, more or less, halwayat, Arabic for candy 

And here's a piece

The humidity was a bit high, impending storm, so it's a bit grainy, but still very edible. Ready for distribution among young friends.

In the middle of all this, contractor friend Michael came over with his annual distribution of homemade peppermint bark! Almost enough candy around here.

And I did get the jigsaw puzzle finished just in time, since it's due back today. This one was  very satisfying.

 

Happy day everyone, puzzles do come out eventually. The current word puzzle which you probably got with no trouble, was YULETIDE.  Great clues from Tom back there. It pays to read comments.

And in honor of the visit from Zelenskyy, flying his flag big today. 

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of orchids, socks and books

Update on the houseguest orchid. I did get the plant, rammed tight in the pot, out, over the sink, just as well, and found that there was an inner plastic pot which took a hook and cursing to remove.

Just as well I did all this because I found the poor thing was sitting in water, the last thing an orchid needs.  So I drained it, then replaced it in the inner pot which I boosted up with a bit of fiber underneath so it can be removed again next time it's watered. I think she's looking more cheerful now.

And while I was there, I noticed my small collection of cookbooks had got into frame, so I thought you might like to see what I think is important enough to own.

Considering I'm always going on about food and my attempts to make it. It's a small collection, and I use all of it.

One time back in petcare days, I did a series of drawings of client desks,  since that's a good bio of most people. Book collections are, too.

Here's my textile section

And the group of books that have helped me keep going st times

Mental health, physical health, artistic health, it's all there!

I do like squinting at other people's book shelves, particularly when I'm encountering them on zoom, and want to ask them to move over so I can see more titles. Never mind what they're talking about..  So I thought you might like this too.

Then, to prove that I remember the dinosaurs, here's my collection of DVDs

Mysteries, comedy, and for a change, comedy mysteries.

I'll leave you with three views of a sock

It needs to be finished, that is,  ends woven in, and pressed, then it will look presentable.  After I make the other one.

Candle by AC.

Keeping Ukraine front and center in thoughts while I knit for the Sock Ministry.

Victory in Makariv, shrimp and ice cream futures

The good news this morning is the liberation of Makariv, Ukrainian flag raised again, Russian troops pushed out. 

Then more trivial items but big in my house, the shower is now fixed 

I think the  breakfast bars gave Gary a jolt of energy, because he showed up, made pictures of the necessary parts, shopped for the parts, fixed the shower, and got the kit required to fix the toilet. All done at warp speed.

He's coming back to do the rest of the fixing, had to run, basketball game in the city with daughter, season tickets..never a dull moment! He's a dear friend, and waiting isn't a problem. If it were urgent, he'd drop everything. I'm so much in his debt.

And, Mary, I did some shrimp yesterday, you'd have liked them. I just thawed them overnight in the fridge, dried them, saved the liquid that came off for a future sauce.

Then after studying recipes which were all a bit fussy, ended up just dousing them with Old Bay seasoning and a bit of salt. 

My mind just went everywhere trying to remember the name Old Bay -- offering me Fishermen's Friend, Mariner's Rest, some imaginative tries, but finally remembering the right name. 

This and minced garlic, quite a bit, seared just a couple of minutes. Served over Basmati rice. Really simple cooking, and it was so good. The shrimp are the size I like, and very good quality Misfits, cleaned and ready.

And there's another meal to warm up for today.

Out walking, clear skies, sunshine, and these natural sculptures

Then there's looking ahead to coming attractions

The current spiral tube socks are completed and I'm picking colors for the next, which will be toe up. I'm using all my sock styles as I go, variety being good.

Richard Rohr, ny daily spiritual guidance reading, is talking about nonduality at the moment, the existence of good and evil together, indivisible. No in group and outgroup. Just group. All belonging, for better or worse. 

He's really just describing the Shakuhachi effect. Something I've always believed in anyway. Bad things are not an interruption of life, just part of it. Rough threads and slubs in the fabric. Not preaching here, just musing.

Now for a cup of tea and a breakfast bar, or raisin thingie. They're very good after a day or two.

Life is good. 

St Patrick's Day greetings

Back before climate change, when I had a vegetable garden, St Patrick's Day was the signal to plant potatoes and peas. Now it's the signal to put on an emerald green cardi and invite my twin to a photo shoot.

And to send on Sandra Boynton's  take

A friend of mine, now gathered, used to be very proud of her Irish heritage, great excitement for March 17, tickets to Irish music celebrations, corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, shamrock, the lot.

Then she got into genealogy and found she'd  been Irish only  since the late nineteenth century. Her roots were solidly English. Oh. 

They  hadn't left because of the famine, after all. English ancestors had settled in Ireland long after. Just shows you'd be wise to proceed with caution on family stories. But she still celebrated happily anyway. Good for her. Why spoil a good party?

And a reminder of the age of the people under siege in Ukraine.  It's the oil cartel causing the escalation in gas prices, but the larger point stands.

And let's hope Ukraine continues to stand and survive as a sovereign nation. 

Winter's back, and countermeasures

 So here's the latest local police report on weather, indexes and the roads. Chief Garofalo has a future in standup.

So, this being the case, I planned a day of cooking. 

First turning the ground turkey from Misfits into meatballs for Tuesday's Dinner with Handsome Son, and the remains of the hake into fishcakes.

Both turned out fine. In the background, chef's privilege, sample fishcakes and meatballs, for quality assurance purposes.

Then I'll bake bread for garlic bread among other uses. And I think I'll make those almond dough tart things again for Tuesday's dessert.  I have great Icelandic yogurt for filling, and various nuts and fruits. My neighbors will be very happy when they appear again.

The latest socks will be done this afternoon, then the finishing and steaming, and I'll mail out the four pairs next week.

Hang in there, Ukraine. 

Sometimes social media works

Monday, Monday, and here's what greeted me in my early morning Twitter timeline.

Just a gentle reminder that Twitter is about choosing your company, taking care of your friends, responding to good thoughts with good thoughts. And learning how to curate your timeline to be a daily source of peace and hope. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the ginger plant was showing signs of aging.

Yellowing foliage, looking tired.

So I tipped out the plant

See the exhausted root top left, and the harvest in the foreground. The root explains why the foliage was waning, no more nutrition.

And here's the harvest ready to be peeled, diced and frozen to go with the ginger already in the freezer.

Later I'll start another root. For now I have enough ginger to be going on with.

Now praying for the Russian people, as well as the Ukrainian besieged population. The ordinary people are intermarried with Ukrainians, are being lied to, their access to media totally censored. 

Many don't believe what their Ukrainian relatives are telling them, no idea of the magnitude of the attack. And now they're suffering hardship, food shortages,  cash access curtailed. They never asked for this.

One man, with the assistance of corrupt foreign leaders, has got us here. I'm profoundly grateful that he failed to get TFG into a second term, so there's that.