Happy Thursday!
Thursday, May 4, 2017
It Needed a Little Something
We popped into one of the local charity shops the other day. We've been keeping our eyes open for a small table to put at one end of one of the couches--big enough to hold a mug of coffee or tea and a book or some stitching supplies, but not so big that it would be in the way. They had a perfect wee black table, so we bought it. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would need a little something and that this would be a good excuse to make some lace, so I considered colours. I decided to do another one in Donegal colours, which are perfect against the black table.
I used a chart from my Pineapple Lace book, but changed a few things. I did not do all the rounds on the chart, but stopped a few rounds beyond the end of the pineapples and did a simple improv border in the green thread. I have plenty more green and there's a fair bit of yellow left on the ball, so the shelf underneath the tabletop might get some lace too. I will flip through my book later and see if anything calls out.
Happy Thursday!
Happy Thursday!
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Books in April
A few years into our marriage, Bill suggested to me that I should write down the books I read so I'd be able to keep track. I started doing this, keeping lists in notebooks, in the back of journals, or in datebooks. As we moved from one place to another, I would sometimes tear the book list pages out and discard the rest of the notebook, but I kept the lists. I still have all of them, spanning 30+ years. I do sometimes refer to them, too. Sometimes I want to remember a title or I wonder whether I've read a book because it seems so familiar, or I want to be reminded of an author's name. I still keep a list on paper--I tried doing it in a word doc one year and found it cumbersome and I did not care for it--but it occurred to me recently that this blog would be a good place to keep track too. I've decided to make a list at the end of each month with a list of the books I've read along with a sentence or two about the book or some thought I had about the book. So here's my list for April 2017. All of these books came from my library. I love libraries!
California by Edan Lupecki--US society has gradually broken down as a result of climate change, shortages, and the resulting mayhem. Young married couple Frida and Cal leave LA for the woods where they start building a new kind of life. When Frida becomes pregnant, they decide to go to the nearest settlement, which turns out to be not quite what they'd hoped for.
She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor--the title pretty much describes the book. I found it fascinating, very readable, and well written. Helen Castor is one of the hosts of the Making History show on BBC Radio 4, which I listen to and very much enjoy as a podcast.
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel--Roanoke does not refer to the town in Virginia here, but is a family name. Dark things happen down through the generations of this family and it is said that Roanoke girls either die or run. Lane has run, but finds herself drawn back to the family home. It was a good, albeit disturbing, book, but I could see what the ending would be before I got there. This was a book I looked up because I'd read about it in an Off the Shelf daily email. I have found many books that way.
Lantern Slides by Edna O'Brien--a collection of short stories by one of Ireland's groundbreaking writers. I love short story collections and this one was no exception.
A Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan--this is classified as a novel, but it is written in the form of a series of interlocking short stories, each from the point of view of a different person living in rural Ireland after the crash of the Celtic Tiger economy. This was a great, if troubling, book which I liked well enough to request another of his books.
Nothing on Earth by Conor O'Callaghan--this was the Irish Times book club book for April. It is a Gothic tale with an unreliable narrator which takes place on a ghost estate in Ireland. In a discussion of the book, the author talked about the kinds of books he wanted to write in the future. A dystopian novel was on the list, but he has come to realise that perhaps with this book, he has written it.
Markievicz: A Most Outrageous Rebel by Lindie Naughton--a biography of Countess Constance Markievicz, an artist, poet, and writer who was born into a life of privilege, but left that behind to fight for Irish independence. She was part of the 1916 Easter Rising and was arrested, after which she expected to join her comrades in front of the firing squad. She was not executed and continued her work upon her release. I knew the bare bones of her story and am glad I read this book to learn more about her.
A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan--a collection of short stories about people and places in Ireland. Some of the stories were unsettling. Overall, I liked A Spinning Heart better.
Four Front written and translated by various people--this was a collection of short stories that I happened to see on the library shelf a little over a week ago. All the stories were originally written in Irish and then translated for this book. All were written and translated by men. I finished the book because it was short, but it wasn't great and if it'd been longer, I might not have bothered. I cannot really recall any story in it that I liked.
Jam and Jeopardy by Doris Davidson--a mystery that takes place in a small village in the UK, which I came across while scrolling through the e-books in the library app and downloaded. It was a good for a few hours of pleasant reading.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood--I'd heard of this book before, of course, and had a vague understanding that it was the first book of a trilogy, but had never read it. I was inspired to request it as a result of one of Quote Lady's blog posts about climate change fiction. I wasn't sure whether I would like it at first, but I soon got into the story and thinking about the issues raised by it and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I requested the next book, The Year of the Flood, but it has not come yet, so I am left with the cliffhanger ending until it arrives.
In the meantime, I have some books that did arrive to keep me occupied (as though I needed more books besides the ones that are all over this house). A couple of them are dystopias (that I read about in an Off the Shelf email), one is a trilogy (but all three books are in one volume), one is a non-fiction book about eviction in the US, and one is a collection of writing by Irish writers responding to artwork.
Evicted is due back first, so that's next. When I got it, Bill looked at it and wanted to read it. He said it was really good.
Hope you have some great reading in your pile, too.
California by Edan Lupecki--US society has gradually broken down as a result of climate change, shortages, and the resulting mayhem. Young married couple Frida and Cal leave LA for the woods where they start building a new kind of life. When Frida becomes pregnant, they decide to go to the nearest settlement, which turns out to be not quite what they'd hoped for.
She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor--the title pretty much describes the book. I found it fascinating, very readable, and well written. Helen Castor is one of the hosts of the Making History show on BBC Radio 4, which I listen to and very much enjoy as a podcast.
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel--Roanoke does not refer to the town in Virginia here, but is a family name. Dark things happen down through the generations of this family and it is said that Roanoke girls either die or run. Lane has run, but finds herself drawn back to the family home. It was a good, albeit disturbing, book, but I could see what the ending would be before I got there. This was a book I looked up because I'd read about it in an Off the Shelf daily email. I have found many books that way.
Lantern Slides by Edna O'Brien--a collection of short stories by one of Ireland's groundbreaking writers. I love short story collections and this one was no exception.
A Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan--this is classified as a novel, but it is written in the form of a series of interlocking short stories, each from the point of view of a different person living in rural Ireland after the crash of the Celtic Tiger economy. This was a great, if troubling, book which I liked well enough to request another of his books.
Nothing on Earth by Conor O'Callaghan--this was the Irish Times book club book for April. It is a Gothic tale with an unreliable narrator which takes place on a ghost estate in Ireland. In a discussion of the book, the author talked about the kinds of books he wanted to write in the future. A dystopian novel was on the list, but he has come to realise that perhaps with this book, he has written it.
Markievicz: A Most Outrageous Rebel by Lindie Naughton--a biography of Countess Constance Markievicz, an artist, poet, and writer who was born into a life of privilege, but left that behind to fight for Irish independence. She was part of the 1916 Easter Rising and was arrested, after which she expected to join her comrades in front of the firing squad. She was not executed and continued her work upon her release. I knew the bare bones of her story and am glad I read this book to learn more about her.
A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan--a collection of short stories about people and places in Ireland. Some of the stories were unsettling. Overall, I liked A Spinning Heart better.
Four Front written and translated by various people--this was a collection of short stories that I happened to see on the library shelf a little over a week ago. All the stories were originally written in Irish and then translated for this book. All were written and translated by men. I finished the book because it was short, but it wasn't great and if it'd been longer, I might not have bothered. I cannot really recall any story in it that I liked.
Jam and Jeopardy by Doris Davidson--a mystery that takes place in a small village in the UK, which I came across while scrolling through the e-books in the library app and downloaded. It was a good for a few hours of pleasant reading.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood--I'd heard of this book before, of course, and had a vague understanding that it was the first book of a trilogy, but had never read it. I was inspired to request it as a result of one of Quote Lady's blog posts about climate change fiction. I wasn't sure whether I would like it at first, but I soon got into the story and thinking about the issues raised by it and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I requested the next book, The Year of the Flood, but it has not come yet, so I am left with the cliffhanger ending until it arrives.
In the meantime, I have some books that did arrive to keep me occupied (as though I needed more books besides the ones that are all over this house). A couple of them are dystopias (that I read about in an Off the Shelf email), one is a trilogy (but all three books are in one volume), one is a non-fiction book about eviction in the US, and one is a collection of writing by Irish writers responding to artwork.
Hope you have some great reading in your pile, too.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
It's Still Only April
I've written before about the issues we had in our apartment and the health issues I've had over the past several months as a result. I am happy to say that things are so much better since we have moved into this house. I am sleeping again, which is huge. I wake up every morning grateful that I was able to sleep for several hours straight. I will never take sleep for granted again! The Bell's palsy issues with the right side of my face are mostly gone. It no longer droops, and is no longer numb, but I do have occasional burning. The Raynaud's is much better now that I am not standing on tile floors all the time. The feet issues around that are taking longer to clear up, so I still cannot walk for long distances. I also have very little stamina. That is perhaps the most frustrating thing.
In other circumstances, I would have whipped through this house as soon as we moved in--or even perhaps while we were shifting stuff from one place to another--and gotten everything put away. I had no energy for that kind of thing this time, so we did the living room, kitchen, and bedroom and let the rest sit. I finally got my stitching supplies organised this past weekend--and I found something I'd been looking for, which was great. That was the big project I had left, so now there is just a little bit of other stuff to put away. I have lacked creative motivation lately and that hasn't helped my mood. I've thought generally about various projects and not settled on where to start, so I have spent way too much time playing Tripeaks. This morning, though, I glanced at an afghan and the project idea just fell into place. Now that I know where my stuff is, I can start swatching today.
Since it's spring, I have no idea how much of my tiredness and lack of energy is due to what came before or because it's April, and it's time for my annual crud to start. I am a bit concerned about how this summer will go, because normally at this time of year, I am just starting after feeling good over the winter. I did not have my usual 'good' part of the year, so I am already starting at a deficit. I feel like I usually do in August. Since it is only April, that does not seem like a good sign. But there isn't much I can do about it, except do what I can do, muddle on, and make the best of it. There are some good exciting things to look forward to this summer, so I will focus on those and do what I can each day to help build my stamina back up. And I will keep on being really happy about living in this house, which I love.
We went up to the garden this morning to water and saw a hopeful sign of what might be coming!
These are our first tomato blossoms, on a plant of the 'Tumbler' variety. Yay!
I picked more fennel and some coriander (cilantro). I thinned the radish sprouts and will use them in salad later.
For now, I am off to make lunch. Hope you are having a lovely day!
In other circumstances, I would have whipped through this house as soon as we moved in--or even perhaps while we were shifting stuff from one place to another--and gotten everything put away. I had no energy for that kind of thing this time, so we did the living room, kitchen, and bedroom and let the rest sit. I finally got my stitching supplies organised this past weekend--and I found something I'd been looking for, which was great. That was the big project I had left, so now there is just a little bit of other stuff to put away. I have lacked creative motivation lately and that hasn't helped my mood. I've thought generally about various projects and not settled on where to start, so I have spent way too much time playing Tripeaks. This morning, though, I glanced at an afghan and the project idea just fell into place. Now that I know where my stuff is, I can start swatching today.
Since it's spring, I have no idea how much of my tiredness and lack of energy is due to what came before or because it's April, and it's time for my annual crud to start. I am a bit concerned about how this summer will go, because normally at this time of year, I am just starting after feeling good over the winter. I did not have my usual 'good' part of the year, so I am already starting at a deficit. I feel like I usually do in August. Since it is only April, that does not seem like a good sign. But there isn't much I can do about it, except do what I can do, muddle on, and make the best of it. There are some good exciting things to look forward to this summer, so I will focus on those and do what I can each day to help build my stamina back up. And I will keep on being really happy about living in this house, which I love.
We went up to the garden this morning to water and saw a hopeful sign of what might be coming!
I picked more fennel and some coriander (cilantro). I thinned the radish sprouts and will use them in salad later.
For now, I am off to make lunch. Hope you are having a lovely day!
Monday, April 24, 2017
Jalapeno Cheese Rolls
I fired up the bread maker this afternoon to make some dough for jalapeño cheese rolls. I used the same ingredients and amounts that I use to make the wholemeal pizza crust, and added red jalapeños from a jar and some cubed extra mature cheddar cheese. When the dough was done in the machine, I kneaded in a small amount of dry jumbo porridge oats before forming the rolls and baking. They are delicious!
The rest will be handy for breakfasts or lunches. They're big enough to be used in small sandwiches too, if we want them that way.
I have some leftover potatoes that will be handy for supper tomorrow--might turn them into potato pancakes.
We picked up a new-to-us kind of biscuit this afternoon and we will try those with a bit of the lemon pudding I made this afternoon.
I had to actually plan supper today, after having lasagna for the last few nights--made a pan and had the leftovers to heat and eat.
It's always nice to have stuff in the fridge ready to go or to use in something else. It's also really great to have freezer space again after having just a tiny compartment in the under-counter fridge that was in the apartment.
We are supposed to have a few cooler days with a chance of wintry showers. Might be some soup in our near future and some more rolls to go with it!
Happy Monday!
I have some leftover potatoes that will be handy for supper tomorrow--might turn them into potato pancakes.
We picked up a new-to-us kind of biscuit this afternoon and we will try those with a bit of the lemon pudding I made this afternoon.
I had to actually plan supper today, after having lasagna for the last few nights--made a pan and had the leftovers to heat and eat.
We are supposed to have a few cooler days with a chance of wintry showers. Might be some soup in our near future and some more rolls to go with it!
Happy Monday!
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Happy Earth Day!
Enjoying some wee bits of Mother Earth's beauty on the short walk to and from the community garden this morning.
This little snail is celebrating the day in an artichoke plant.
Hope you have a beautiful day, wherever you are on our beautiful little planet.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Spuds and Salad
We went up to the garden this morning, just to check on stuff and water the plants in the hoop house. We'd not been since Saturday. We'd planned to go Tuesday and then yesterday, but the days got away from us. When we arrived, there was someone already there. He said he'd watered our plants because they looked droopy. That was nice of him! Turns out he is the fellow who decided to try growing lettuce through the winter in the hoop house. He was successful. There s a lot of lettuce. He offered us some and gave us two heads. I asked him if he needed any cabbage plants, since we had extra. The only ones we could buy came in a pack of 10 or something. I planted 5 and that seems like plenty. As it happened, he was just going off to buy cabbage plants when he was done at the garden, so he was pleased to take them. He told us he had extra spuds ready to be planted if we wanted some. At first, I had no idea where I would put them, as it seems like all our space will be accounted for, but then I decided we might as well plant a couple, so we did. I can figure out places to put stuff as we go on.
At the moment, most of the stuff going outside is still in the waiting to sprout (courgette/zucchini), just sprouted (chard, spinach, broccoli) or will-be-planted-when-warmer (beans, carrots, lavender) stages, so there is a lot of free space.
Inside, the tomato plants are growing like mad, the French breakfast radish seeds have sprouted, the coriander(cilantro) and lettuce seeds that sprouted last week are growing, and the fennel is taking off, as is the parsley. Things seem to be going well--at least well enough for me to pick some stuff to go with the lettuce for a salad.
. This was the base of my lunch salad--lettuce, parsley, fennel, and basil from the garden, along with scallions and celery from my pots at home. I added a few other things to this, so it is not completely home grown, but those fresh greens were so delicious!
What a nice, unexpected treat! Hope your day contains some happy surprises too!
At the moment, most of the stuff going outside is still in the waiting to sprout (courgette/zucchini), just sprouted (chard, spinach, broccoli) or will-be-planted-when-warmer (beans, carrots, lavender) stages, so there is a lot of free space.
Inside, the tomato plants are growing like mad, the French breakfast radish seeds have sprouted, the coriander(cilantro) and lettuce seeds that sprouted last week are growing, and the fennel is taking off, as is the parsley. Things seem to be going well--at least well enough for me to pick some stuff to go with the lettuce for a salad.
What a nice, unexpected treat! Hope your day contains some happy surprises too!
Monday, April 17, 2017
Keeping the Needles in Motion: Knitting and Tatting
A week or two ago, I finished a pair of socks and wondered what I would make next. I was getting antsy to start a new project, but nothing seemed quite right, so one night, I picked up a patchwork tatting project I have ongoing and worked on that. I got enthused about it and have kept on working on the rectangle that is in progress.
For this large project, I am using navy blue linen thread that I have left on the huge cone Bill got me a year and a half or so ago. I used a bunch of it to make this shawl, but there is still plenty left on the cone.
So the blue will be the main colour and I have various bits of cotton thread to use for stripes--I am making rectangles consisting of 4 strips of navy blue and 3 strips of various colours. Right now I am thinking that I will crochet around each rectangle and join them into a vest, but if I get a better idea, I might change my mind.
When I mentioned on Facebook that I wasn't sure what my next project would be, someone asked if I'd made a pussy hat. I was thrilled to see that question (thanks, Deidre!) because it reminded me that I had thought about making one a few months ago, but I was working on something else at the time. By the time I'd finished with that project, we'd unexpectedly looked at this house, decided to move and I was packing, so the hat idea was forgotten. Seemed like a good time to start one, so I went through one of my stitch dictionaries and chose an Irish net stitch. I wanted to make a lacy one out of cotton since it's getting warmer. I chose green for Earth Day. Guess I'd better get going if it's to be done by then!
The net stitch has pulled it in a bit more than I thought, so I've considered ripping it out and starting over with more stitches, but after setting the project aside for a few days and thinking about it, I think I won't. Since this will be a simple rectangle that gets seamed up either side, I have decided to see whether I need it wider or not, bearing in ind that cotton does not 'bounce back' like wool does, so I don't want it too big. If I do need a bit more width, I will do a few rows of garter stitch or a slip stitch crochet rib along the sides before seaming. That would give me narrow panels of stretchy fabric, which would probably be a good addition.
I also whipped up a couple of little dishcloths over a couple of nights while listening to an audiobook of Winifred Holtby short stories.
Yesterday Bill requested another pair of lightweight fingerless gloves, so I decided on which yarn to use for those and got my needles. That'll be a good project for next to the couch--he keeps his other pair down here and I can measure against one of those as I knit the first of the new pair.
I have a few more projects in mind too, so it looks like my idea drought has ended--and I am so glad! I always feel like something is wrong when I do not know what to stitch or what book to read. Things are back to normal now.
Happy Monday!
When I mentioned on Facebook that I wasn't sure what my next project would be, someone asked if I'd made a pussy hat. I was thrilled to see that question (thanks, Deidre!) because it reminded me that I had thought about making one a few months ago, but I was working on something else at the time. By the time I'd finished with that project, we'd unexpectedly looked at this house, decided to move and I was packing, so the hat idea was forgotten. Seemed like a good time to start one, so I went through one of my stitch dictionaries and chose an Irish net stitch. I wanted to make a lacy one out of cotton since it's getting warmer. I chose green for Earth Day. Guess I'd better get going if it's to be done by then!
I also whipped up a couple of little dishcloths over a couple of nights while listening to an audiobook of Winifred Holtby short stories.
Happy Monday!
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