Chicken Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 lbs defrosted chicken
3 peeled potatoes, chopped
About one leek, cleaned and chopped
A few handfuls of frozen onions and peppers
2 small fruit cup containers of mandarin oranges (in water, not syrup)

Place all that in a stainless steel deep pan
In a glass measuring cup add 1/2 cup of water, about 3 tbsp of olive oil, lots of ground black pepper, about a tablespoon of dried oregano, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 tsp celery salt and 1/2 tsp curry powder, also mix in at least one egg.  ((Added about half a stick of butter and some salt after cooking for an hour.))

Pour liquid mixture over the chicken and vegetables.
Place aluminum foil over the top of the pan, prick twice with a fork.
Place chicken in oven and cook for at least two hours (probably more, we'll see)

Serve with dinner rolls.

(( next time, only a little bit of water))  But I'm boiling the leftovers down for soup.. so, well....

Tapestry mountain and rainbows

Getting the rainbow part done, and then will work on the sky above it and the sun.

Potato Leek Soup

 

1 whole leek 'white', cut into rings and washed
1.5 leek greens, washed and chopped up
1 medium potato, scrubbed and  chopped up skin on (or more, but longer cooking)
3 cups water
1 tablespoon Kerrygold butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup whole milk
salt
black pepper
celery seed
curry powder (hot madras)
1 tsp prepared brown mustard
1/3 to 1/2 cup dried potato flakes


cut up and rinse leeks
boil water and butter, throw in leeks and raw potato
cook about 7 to 10 minutes on low
add olive oil, milk, seasonings and cook another 10 minutes, stirring often
add the potato flakes for thickening and remove from heat, let rest for another 5 minutes or so

Knee brace

I've been wearing an elastic knee pad as a brace at work for two nights.  It made a difference like night and day.  Before, I was almost limping because every step made the back of my leg hurt.  With the kneepad I was walking at my regular pace.  The kneepad has an elastic velcro band and I was feeling the instinct to hold that muscle 'tight' to my leg to help it heal.  It felt like there was a baseball sized knot.. caused from twisting my leg oddly when I come back up from kneeling.  I try not to do this but sometimes it just happens, because my knee joint is hypermobile.  It caused an injury several months ago that caused my entire knee to swell to the point it barely fit in my jeans leg.  That one very very slowly went away with rest and aspirin pads and elevation.  But this one scared me it could be a blood clot, it was so condensed and in a different place.  But I remembered 'feeling' it twist the same way the other part of the knee did, and a 'charlie horse' type pain right in that same place. 

I am going to wear the knee pad again tonight but I am not going to draw the elastic strap tight into the same support structure I was using it as the past few nights... that way I will remember not to go down with that knee bent, but keep it stuck out and then I won't twist it that same way getting back up.

Tapestry weaving

After many years hiatus, I'm trying to do a little tapestry weaving again.  I upgraded my regular 'frame' to have pegged screws, to keep the tension even.  I used a drill press (not shown) after first marking out regular pinpoints in pencil on the backside of a picture frame.  I actually used lined wide rule notebook paper to get my spacing.

It took a long time to warp the string, and I tied it at the edges with a good amount wrapped around the frame for extra on each end.

Tapestry is a technique where you will have to go back later and clean up all the threads - leave them there and don't tie them all tight yet - the tension of the whole piece may shift a little as you go.. so you want room for that.  Leave a tail of at least three to five inches sticking out after finishing any color - tuck it behind while you work if it is getting in the way.. but we'll clean them up with a big yarn needle (tapestry needle) at the end.

This is how the tapestry is coming along... still a bit of a ways to go but I am about three quarters there.  One thing about tapestry -when you draw the picture out, the results will be 'squished' vertically.. so plan wide if you want tall...

About making the loom...

 

After the screws were all in, we began to warp the loom by running the ball of yarn back and forth and catching it on the pegs like this.  At times, we had to stop and take the screwdriver to a screw and adjust it a tiny bit to get the yarn between them.

  
Adjust the screws with the screwdriver.


 Running the yarn back and forth



Planning shapes and building up bit by bit.. if there is too big of jump between areas of colors, best to make a new tassel of yarn and start that as its own section. The bottom of this weaving has two levels of 'rya knot' fringe.. which I was practicing with.

 

bits

Did some more rows on the beach shawl, which - I don't have any better name for it.. guess I'll have to bring it to the beach again so I can say I knitted it more than once there?  The circular needle is very very nice.  It's making me doubt whether I want to weave the cot-lin scarf or knit it after I finish with this.. which is about 1/3 of the way done.  Worked on the tapestry a little more -- it has been so long since I did this that I forgot how very vertically condensed everything gets.. if you are planning for tall better start wide etc etc.  Still, it is coming along nicely enough.

Took Esme over to our friend's house and she played in the pool and stomped around with her friend.  I read some more of 'Magic Kingdom for Sale'.  We went to the store and got leek soup mix and good potatoes and some apples.  Mark made steak for dinner with lots of mashed potato and I made leek soup, which was quite good.  Of course, I'm the only one brave enough to eat it.. but oh well, then.

I've been trying to keep my leg elevated, and put an ice pack under it.  It is much better now than it was this morning, and tons better than yesterday after we returned from Murray, when it was swollen noticeably. 

A visit to my LYS in Murray, Kentucky Red Bug Yarn and Gifts

I found a good quantity of 'Linsey' yarn by Berrocco, which is 65% cotton, 35% linen, and 'Creative Linen' by Rowan, which is 50/50.  The yarns have a beautiful drape and the contrast will go nicely in a woven project.  I need to build a new larger skinny frame loom to do the project I'm thinking of.

The drape and feel of it was a big draw.

 Esme also found some 100% wool and a cute measuring tape. 

I told her if she is going to a yarn store she should at least buy one skein of yarn to experiment with.

 

This is the 'Shawl in a Ball' continuation.  I found a circular needle to help make this project not so heavy on my elbow.  I had started it on straight needles before I realized how much it would weigh as the project got longer and longer.

 

This is what the tapestry project looked like at stage one

And I'll call this one stage two point five...

A showy butterfly on the zinnias

The only 'Teddy Bear' sunflower that has bloomed so far

Blast from the Past :
I was trying to remember the name of the yarn store in Fargo, North Dakota when I used to live there.  It was called 'Yarn Renaissance" and it was in the downtown area., but within biking or walking distance (2 miles) of my duplex on 7th avenue.  I remember biking down that long stretch straight to the store and then cruising back with whatever little thing I had found, usually a skein of Baby Ull DK (merino wool 6 dollars) or Sugar n Cream cotton.  I made a green and white woven wool purse from their materials (they had wool felt, too) with green glass turtle buttons that I used the year that I graduated from NDSU.  I remember swinging that purse on my shoulder in my graduation gown and then having to hand it off to my mom and dad when it was time to line up.  I found a news article that said it closed in July, 2007.

Bits

Shawl in a Ball yarn by Lion Brand 151 stitches plain garter on size 7 needles.

colorways : Namaste Neutrals and Cleansing Quartz (alternated)

I've been knitting, reading and working on one of my other stories. 

Esme and I went to town today to the library, and a few other things.

We had a good time, and I bought a huge body pillow for her reading spot on the daybed.

I liked the color and the pattern, plus it was big and soft and fuzzy.  She likes that it is big and soft and fuzzy, and the color and pattern are 'ok'...

 This is the volunteer pumpkin out of the old chicken pen.  It is so far from the garden we really didn't even water it much.. the vine has only produced this one fruit and probably won't have anymore.

This is our 'original' Pumpkin (also big and soft and fuzzy, btw), and she is unimpressed with my garden variety hunting prowess.

bits

Read 'Bring me Back' by B.A Paris, and 'Flying by the Seat of my Knickers', by Eliza Watson, and am working on 'Magic Kingdom for Sale' by Terry Brooks and 'The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton' by Katherine Hayton.  Before all that read 'The Gray and Guilty Sea' and 'A Desparate Place for Dying' both by Scott William Carter.  I've got another three to five lined up

Knitting a bit with the new glittery yarn.  Writing more in a new story.  Pulled a pumpkin out of the garden and a smattering of tomatoes.  Also got a whole bunch of jalapenos, and cut them up - and ended up with the juice under my fingernails which has kind of plagued me all night but it could be worse.

Planning to bring Esme into the library on Monday.  We went out on Wednesday and did her school supplies.  Then I took Irene out for groceries on Thursday.  I got some Damson jam yesterday - it is a type of plum.  It's not bad.  It's from that Tiptree company I like the black currant jam from.

Work has been very long every day.. longer and longer as the night rolls on.  My left foot hurts as well as my right knee.  Tolerable.. but annoying.  I've also had some vertigo.. also tolerable, but annoying.

I'm early tomorrow.. need to do some laundry and go to sleep.
I told Mark the other day that it feels like I've lived three months since June 21st.  I don't know why.. it just seems like these last few weeks have taken much longer than that... some in a good way.  July 4th was very nice.  But other days.. I'm just working to the weekend.  Which comes on Monday.

Fourth of July

I love those eyes :)  That is my big floppy summer hat. 

 A little knitting project I started last night.. 

 

Kif dog, after we got back from the beach

These are the clearance lilies I got last year that just said 'red and yellow tulip style'.. they didn't bloom last year but wow, they're knockout now :)

 At the 1000 acre lake beach with Esme this morning.  It rained on us a little but not much - we had fun.  I swam with her and she showed me how much she learned at summer camp.

 She wanted me to take a picture of the far shore because she said it was pretty

'Pysgoden bach ar y traeth'.. A little stone fish on the beach.  I saw that they did this at the Say Something in Welsh (SSIW) boot camp and tried to make one of our own.

Happy girl!
We have watermelon and I'm going to try to make onion rings.
I got my tooth under control (hope it stays that way)... we'll see if the weather is going to cooperate to go find a fireworks show tonight.



What I did for my tooth:
I called into work -which I hardly ever do.  But I was in pretty bad pain and I was sure it was becoming a fever.  Nothing is open around here until at least the day after the fourth... small town yay.

So....
I mixed up baking soda with a little peroxide, and put it on the tooth I suspected was the problem with a toothbrush.  It was hard to tell - it kept moving from my ear to my jaw to the upper tooth to a lower tooth to all the middle of my teeth where there isn't even a problem.. basically a pressure thing.. and that was why I was in so much pain.  I also was running a fever of a sort.. but eventually, that was a good thing.  After putting the 'toothpaste' mixture on the area I waited for a bit.  It HURT.  It really hurt.  It was 'knocking out a rhythm on the side of the sink with the toothbrush waiting for it to be over' hurt.  Then I rinsed it out... and rinsed it out.... and rinsed it out. 

Then I put some of the really good local honey we have in a clean dish with a spoon and dripped it onto the teeth bit by bit until it was gone.  I sat there letting that soak in and it felt a bit better.  It still hurt, but not as badly.  After the honey had all run away slowly I went and brewed a strong cup of green tea.  I sat there and drank that slowly... letting it run over that area.. until the cup was gone.  I put a little peroxide on a cotton ball and dropped a few drops in that ear canal... let it fizz and then let it drain out.  I soaked a teatowel in some almost hot water and laid it over the area underneath that ear on my neck until it cooled down. 

Then I took more ibuprofen and went and crawled in bed with a sweatshirt on.  I was sweating 'nicely'... enough to feel it.  I slept for about four hours.. got up, did it all again.  It hurt again... a lot... but felt better even quicker than last time.  Slept another four hours.  Got up and felt almost alive.  Made some chicken broth garlic(powdered) ginger(also powdered) cashew (ground up) cayenne pepper soup with some brown rice in it and drank it all. 

This morning I've only taken ibuprofen once and stuck to drinking coffee or green tea.    -- This doesn't mean I won't have to have a dentist or doctor look at it next week... but I'm not feeling pain so bad.   I was reminded of being in labor... it was almost as bad as one of my worst contractions back then.