Around Town and a Chat

I have been dragging lately and sleep is hard to come by. This is not for any particular reason--I get tired, go to bed, and then feel wide awake. Last night I was tossing and turning so went into another room and crawled into the bed there so Bill could get some sleep. I tossed and turned in there until quarter to 5 when I finally fell asleep--until quarter to 6. That was disappointing. By 6:30 it seemed like I might as well just get up, so I did. Once Bill got up a couple of hours later, I climbed back into bed, downed a cup of coffee and immediately fell asleep for a couple of hours.

I made myself get up and get dressed so we could go the the shop and make a stop at veg man's stall. I was sad to see that spring is apparently just around the corner!

 This is what the planters looked like at the end of November:

 We chose our fruit and veg and went to pay. Veg man was talking to someone who was with him and he mentioned something about a stroke. I hesitated, wondering if it would be culturally appropriate to join the conversation, but decided I might as well. We all started chatting. I mentioned that Bill had had a stroke. Veg man started asking questions and Bill was answering him, telling about his experience. Turns out that veg man is worried about his mum, who had a stroke over the festive season. At one point, he asked something and then stopped, looked at me and said, 'I hope you don't mind me asking all these questions...for my mum.' We assured him that we did not mind at all. He was especially concerned because his mum, who is in her late 70s, but quite fit, is still so tired. Bill was able to talk about his experience and how exhausted he was by just the smallest bit of activity. Turns out that both veg man's mum and Bill had strokes as a result of irregular heartbeats, so Bill was able to reassure him by talking about his own experience. Veg man said, 'I think sometimes people show up and you have conversations at just the right moment.' Bill and I walked away feeling as though he felt better and less worried about his mum and what is happening right now. I hope she is OK and I was glad that we went there at just that moment--a little later than we usually go.

We came home, put away the food we'd bought and had a spot of lunch. Then we went out again to do another errand, deciding to take a slightly longer route than usual. On the way we passed a couple of houses that had pebbles and sea glass stuck into the cement 'siding.' I've walked by those houses several times before and do not remember noticing.

Bet it's pretty if the sun ever hits! I was reminded of a house in Ballinrobe with shells all lined up in columns on the front of the house.

I am hoping for an early night that involves a lot of heavy sleeping!

Happy Tuesday!

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Mitred Squares Blanket

Last night I wove in the ends on my ruffly border, thus finishing my mitred squares blanket.

The 35 squares are knitted. The border is crocheted. Obviously, I could have used fewer stitches on the border, but when it started to ruffle, I thought about whether I wanted to rip it back and start the border again or keep going and have a ruffly edge. As you can see, I decided on the latter. Since this is for me I didn't worry about it and I like the way it contrasts with the straight lines of the squares. It is also nice because some of the squares are stretchy and this border, because it is not too tight, allows for a nice drape. If it had been for someone else, I would have ripped it back, unless they expressed a wish for the ruffle.😊 I also would have done it over if I had needed a wider border, since with fewer stitches in each round, I would have been able to do more rounds with the yarn I had. The length and width were fine though.

The yarn I used was all scraps and odd balls, given to me by a few friends and Bill. The exception was the dark blue and the turquoise, which I got at a local charity shop and had left from a pair of slippers I made as a Christmas gift. There were different weights of yarn, but I didn't worry about that. If a yarn was too thin, I held it double, but otherwise I just knit away on size 6 mm needles. I used the Russian join method, except for the boucle yarns, where it would not really work. This allowed me to just knit along, not caring about the colour changes.

I started during the first week of November. It was a good mindless project to work on and I could pick it up and put it down without worrying about where I was--a very relaxing project and a good way to use up scrappy bits!

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Excitement at the Charity Shop

Today I realised that the beginning of January is a great time to call in at the charity shops. People are clearing out cupboards and getting organised, on fire with the determination to make good on those resolutions. I had never thought of this before, but now I know.

It's Tuesday, so we went off to see veg man, deciding to cross the street at the end of the lane and see what was happening at the charity shop there. They had signs all over for the euro sale--coats and dresses are 2 euro, kids clothes 3 for a euro, and a euro or less for other clothes and stuff. As soon as we walked in, I saw a forest green coat hanging there and thought that it looked like wool. I rummaged around, found the tag, and sure enough, it was 100% wool. I considered getting it to cut up for the fabric, but decided not to--it felt like I should leave it there. Cold weather is coming and it's a nice coat. Someone who might not have a lot of cash could find it, be very happy with it, and really use it to keep warm, which would be better than me cutting it apart. I try to get stuff for making things that is either really worn, has holes, is missing buttons, or that they are really trying to get rid of because it's been there a while.

Then we headed into the books/housewares room. 'Oh my god!' I said, and made a beeline for the back wall. Sitting there was a bread machine and a box with a grater/slicer thing like one my grandmother gave me years ago. First stop was the bread machine. All of the pieces were there, but as is usually the case, there was no price. I took it to the lady at the desk and asked her how much it was. She hesitatingly asked if 5 euro would be acceptable. 'It would be very acceptable,' I replied, and asked if I could set it down there.

Then I went back and looked at the grater thing. All the pieces were there. It is plastic and the one I had was all metal, but I took it anyway. I loved the one I had and I used it so much that one of the little metal pieces that held the blades in broke. Through the years, I have often wished I still had it. Now I have another one--yay!

We also found 4 books--all novels that will be read and placed in the wee free library afterwards.

As we were paying (7 euro for the lot), I was telling the woman that only last week we were talking about how we wished we still had our bread machine. She laughed and said, 'Really? Well this one just came in. You know who brought it in? I did! I was cleaning out the cupboards and found it there. I used to use it all the time, but I haven't made bread in years, so I decided, "Right, time for it to go" and I brought it in. It makes great bread though, and I did test it before I brought it in, so it works just fine.' Woo hoo!!

We'd found a machine in one of the charity shops in Ballinrobe, but when we left there we decided to donate it back. Since we made that move by bus, we were limited as far as luggage space went and that seemed expendable because the tiny kitchen in Killybegs was extremely short on counter space and electrical outlets. I had no good place to use it there anyway, except the floor! But although the kitchen here is very small, it is very good to work in--plenty of counter space and outlets. It will be very convenient to use here.

I was wondering about yeast, though. I did not recall seeing it in the little grocery shops here, but I thought the Organic Farm Store might have it. They did! Same kind I got in Ballinrobe, I think. So now I am off to google the machine--there is no book with it. I am pretty sure it will make a 1 pound loaf*--the pan looks smallish, but that is good. We will not have to worry about the bread getting moldy. We were recalling the very first machine we had 20 years ago in Fairbanks. It made up to a 2 1/2 pound loaf!

Very glad we went in today--it was good timing.

Hope your day has some happy surprises in it too!

*After clicking around a little, it appears that it is a 1 1/2 pound loaf, based on the amount of water and flour the recipes in the online manual call for. It doesn't really matter, now that I have basic amounts!

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Short Stories and Old Dogs: A Birthday Gift

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an Amazon UK gift voucher for my birthday. I waited until after the 'festive season' was over and last week I set up an account and made some selections.This allowed me to think a bit about what I would choose, because, to be honest, at first I could not think of anything in particular. I did decide that I should choose something that I would want to keep, not read and donate, so I just left it there to percolate in my brain for a while.

One night I was crocheting and probably listening to a book podcast when I suddenly remembered hearing some guy named Philip something on podcasts a year (or more) ago talking about the 2-volume British short story collection he edited, which spans a few hundred years of writing. At the time, I looked it up at the library, but they did not have it. I could not remember his last name or the exact title, but a google search soon provided both. I looked them up at Amazon and there they were, so I knew where part of my gift voucher was going. I love short stories and I always have my eyes open for collections, so these volumes will go well with the others I have. So glad I remembered them!

Then I was chatting with Bill and we were talking about a story the same friend had sent a month or so ago, about a woman who did a photography project with older dogs and their people. Her husband convinced her to collect their stories as well, so she did and now that is a book. I added that to the list.

When I set up my account and went to place my order, everything was cheaper than it had been a couple of weeks previously. Nice! I love a book sale and I still have almost half of my voucher left 😊

I was expecting them tomorrow or the next day, but they arrived early! The postman rang the bell this morning. Nice way to start the week!

Hope your week is starting off well too!

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'Mexican' Lasagne and Stuff

Spent a little time in the kitchen today and now our meals are sorted for the next few days.

This morning after my coffee, apple, and breakfast sandwich of leftover pesto and cheese on toast, I decided to toast some oats. I mixed the toasted jumbo oats with coconut and almonds. Bananas are on sale at a local shop, so we have many of them. Breakfast tomorrow (for me) will be a bowl of the oat mixture with a banana sliced in, some walnuts sprinkled on top and a splash of milk. Bill always has his porridge cooked with milk and a chopped pear or apple and some walnuts.

For lunch I made a vegetable soup, using some of the bouillon I got the other day. As always, I made extra so we would have leftovers available.

Supper tonight was a kind of improv 'Mexican' lasagne, using stuff I had around.

Years ago I used to make a dish that was layers of refried beans, salsa, cheese, and corn tortillas. No corn tortillas here, so I used lasagne sheets left from the Christmas Eve lasagne.

Yesterday I soaked some dried kidney and cannelini beans. At 11 when off peak electricity started, I covered these soaked beans with boiling water in the crock of my slow cooker, set it to high and continued with my night. By the time I got back to them at 9:30 this morning, they were perfectly cooked--I cook them on the high setting here because this slow cooker does not seem to get as hot as those I used to have.

I drained them, mashed them with a potato masher, put them in containers and stuck them in the fridge. When I was ready to make supper, I sliced a large yellow onion and chopped two bell peppers. These I cooked in a puddle of olive oil until the onion was translucent. Then I added some granulated garlic, oregano, and some chili powder to the pan and mixed it in, letting everything cook for a few minutes more.

I layered canned chopped tomatoes in juice, the lasagne sheets, the beans, the spiced veggies, and cheddar cheese. On one layer I added some sliced red jalapenos from a jar. I also ran a little water around each can and poured that around the edges of the pan. I always make my lasagne with uncooked regular (not the no boil) noodles and it is good to make sure there is enough liquid for the noodles to absorb. In this case, I knew the beans would also absorb some more liquid, so I wanted to be sure there was enough in there. By the time it was done cooking, all the liquid was absorbed.

Over the last layer of lasagne sheets, I spread more beans and more tomatoes. I covered with foil and baked at 200C for almost forever (my ovens here have all been tiny and they take a long time for something like this--I do not cook large things in it very often!). After 45 or 50 minutes, I took it out and checked it by sticking a knife in at various places. Needed a bit more time, so I left the foil off, put the pan back in for another 15 minutes and checked again. Almost done, so I added the top layer of cheese and put it back until the cheese was melted and bubbly. That was it--nice and hot, noodles cooked, and we both love it. Just as well, since we have plenty of leftovers. This is something I will make again in future, but like almost everything I make, it is likely to be a little bit different every time, depending on what I have around the place. Might be different beans, different cheese, the addition of corn and/or courgettes (zucchini), salsa, or some other thing.

I am always well pleased when I have my own ready meals in the fridge! Hope your fridge is stocked with stuff you love too 😋

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Women's Christmas/ Nollaig na mBan

Today is Women's Christmas, or Nollaig na mBan in Ireland. This marks the 'official' end of the festive season. Traditionally, it was the day when the tree was taken down, the decorations put away, and the women got a day off from housework. We have not had a tree in years and our few decorations were taken down the day after Christmas, but I fully support the part about women getting a day off. I told Bill that this would be an excellent opportunity to go native, so it's a tradition, starting today. 😊

We kicked off our new tradition by walking to the end of the lane and having supper at The Cosy Cottage.

photo by Bill Burke

It was yummy. Afterwards we walked a few more steps over to Market Square to see the tree and the new year sign one more time--I expect they will be coming down soon.

photo by Bill Burke

As we were turning to head back home, I saw Gerard pulling out of his spot in front of the library--he'd just left the library after locking up for the week. He saw us, pulled over, rolled down his window and said I'd had a book come in. 'Do you want it?' he asked. I told him I'd be grand until next Wednesday and I would go to pick it up then, when the library is open. I said I was pretty sure I had enough reading material at home to fill the gap between now and then. He asked if I was sure. He would have turned around, parked his car, unlocked the library and all of that if I had said I wanted the book right then even though I am sure he was really ready to be done with work on a Friday evening. That is so nice! Love our wee library!

Earlier today we walked up to the tin and bottle (glass) recycling area and I noticed that there are buds on the trees--and flowers along the roadside!

 It is too soon for this kind of thing.

Further on down the road, there was this sad sight.

I wonder if it fell off a Christmas tree that was being discarded today. Seems like a sad but apt commentary on the day that's in it.

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Getting Back to Normal

So another year has begun.

Much just shuts down here between Christmas and the new year, so it seems like the whole town is trying to get back into the swing of normal life. Opening hours of businesses and the library go back to what they were, deliveries get made more regularly, and people go about their lives after a very quiet couple of weeks.

We went out to do some errands today, stopping first at the library to leave in a pile of books. On our way down the lane we saw that the charity shop was open, so we called in there. I had to laugh at these two books side by side on a shelf.

We left those there for someone else, but we both found others that made their way home with us. Bill got several and I picked up these.

I will probably keep the Irish short story one and the other two can go into the wee free library when I am done with them.

After that we headed down Main St to the shop.

After picking up a few grocery items there, we went to the Organic Farm Store. Bill wanted some more Darjeeling tea and we wanted to see if they had any, since the other local shops do not. I wanted to pick up another container of this bouillon stuff I discovered. A friend had recommended it to me so I tried the 'less salt' version and loved it. A little bit of it in certain things really adds a nice flavour and it is great to make broth for quick soups.

They had Bill's tea and they had one more little container (150g) of the lower salt bouillon, which I picked up before looking around to see what else was there. As I was looking at the herbs, I turned around and saw a big canister (1 kg) of the stuff. It was a much better value than the small container, so I got it.

I was irrationally pleased about finding this. It is so handy when I want a quick soup for lunch or want to turn some cooked veggies and grains into soup for breakfast and now I will not run out anytime soon. Yay!

Got some couscous and a bottle of environmentally friendly laundry detergent to go with our tea and bouillon and we headed back home.

I will probably knit tonight. Since I finished the poncho, I have been knitting away on my mitred square blanket and it is nearing the finish line. I have started the last row of 5 squares. Then there will be ends to weave in and a sinple border to crochet.

It was a pleasant day as I attempted to ease myself out of holiday hibernation mode.

Hope your day is pleasant too!

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