The crochet project I decided upon is a market bag. One of my Christmas presents was two skeins of yarn, Bernat Maker, which is a cotton polyester blend, and quite nice to work with. It has been more than a year since I followed a pattern, so it wasn’t surprising that I got boggled reading the pattern. I misread SK for SC, and that makes a huge difference. SK is skip a stitch, and SC is a single crochet. The error resulted in what looked like a giant doilie, and it was hard to imagine what kind of a market bag it was going to produce. I knew something was wrong, but what? Luckily some experienced pattern readers pointed out the error, the incorrect stitches were ripped out, and the bag now progresses as it should.
Every day there is a list of interesting things to do. Yesterday it was paying bills, with some dazzling footwork on my part, as I robbed Peter to pay Paul, as they say. Earlier in the week it was milling flour. Then there was some online consulting work, which I do pro-bono for a church from time to time. And of course, the best fun of all, online research. I am still looking into local sources for wheat berries, so far no luck. There is a local farm that says on their web site that they sell wheat berries, but they don’t answer the telephone, and they don’t respond to email messages, so really, how interested are they in selling to the public. I’ve given up on them. But I am confident that the right supplier will eventually materialize.
The wasp situation has improved since Attila sprayed Wasp Killer into the cavity behind the porch light fixture. Only two wasps have been found since then, both on the exterior of the house. I don’t miss them inside the house at all, and it is a relief to be able to step outside the door and not encounter a lot of them. It is warmer today, and I’ve found three around the exterior of the front door, so far. Attila has a theory that they have a nest in the Crab Apple tree in the front yard. I wonder what the attraction is to our front door and porch!
Now that the snow is gone, Attila and I will be out and about more. We NEVER eat out, literally never, due to my anaphylaxis. This means that we must carry all of our food and beverage with us, wherever we go. It is time to get back into preparing foods that travel well. During the winter this is seldom an issue, but as soon as spring rolls around life changes with the weather. The thing is, by the time the snow melts, I’ve lost touch with what foods work and what foods don’t. This blog is handy for me in this situation, I can always look back to see what delectable solutions were on previous menus. And now that I am thinking about it, since I am once again making low-sodium homemade bread, grilled cheese sandwiches over an open fire are back on the menu!
Our seeds arrived this week! We ordered from William Dam Seeds, and from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. Seeds from William Dam Seeds are great, and have always germinated and grown healthy, productive plants. Baker Creek seeds are an experiment, we have not purchased seeds from them before, their heirloom varieties are open pollinated, so seed saving can be practiced, a real bonus in my view.
Egg shells used to go into the compost pile, but no more. Now they are rinsed, the inner membrane is removed, they are dried, and then reduced to powder with a mortar and pestle. The result is a quart of calcium to use for soil amendment. If it is sprinkled around our tomato plants it prevents end rot, which I discovered last summer, to my delight.
Worldly
Weather
9°C
Date: 11:00 AM EDT Friday 12 April 2019
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.5 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 9.1°C
Dew point: 4.7°C
Humidity: 74%
Wind: SE 19 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.”
Mark Twain
1835 – 1910
Nothing like a good cussing session to bring balance back into life. No audience needed.
I’m glad your crochet mystery is now solved. (Very funny Twain quote….)
Thanks Joan, the help I received was wonderful, and the answer was so very, very obvious, and no one made fun of me! I thought the quote was pretty funny… and when I thought about it, probably true in certain circumstances.
My brother married an Italian. Her mother lived with them til she passed. From the Olde Country. Hardly spoke any English. She always said that egg shells were the BEST fertilizer for gardens and she was a really great gardener (from when she lived in the Olde Country). (Also, ground up lobster shells are great fertilizer too, if you ever happen on any for supper! )
That is interesting Bex, people passed down a lot of great skills to the younger generations. I hadn’t realized lobster shells were fertilizer, good to know. Lobster, well I had it once when I visited Nova Scotia, and once when a friend took me out to dinner in Toronto, but it is too dear for the likes of me. 🙂
Wasps burrow into the ground for winter, don’t they? I once stuck a shovel into a manure pile and was rewarded by a swarm of wasps chasing me away. -Kate
The weather was wonderful today! DH and I were walking around with our hoodies unzipped.
We bought a used stove for the cottage, today. Two hundred dollars vs the $600+ for a new one, and no taxes. You might remember that the cottage stove died just before Easter dinner last year. We made do for the entire 2018 season.
Glad your wasp problem is better. I hate wasps. Doesn’t help that I’m allergic to them.
Kate, I had not researched the habits of wasps! But now I have! It seems only the mated females overwinter, by hibernate in crevices and sheltered places. So I guess I am running into mated queens, who are using my house as a successful place to hibernate. Yellowjackets, a type of wasp, nest in the ground, I know this because as a child I stepped on a nest and they swarmed, and I luckily got out of there and escaped without a single sting. I hate yellowjackets, very aggressive wasps. Hornets are aggressive too, and we had a hornets nest here a few years ago, which Attila managed to destroy without being harmed.
Teri, the weather was grand today wasn’t it! It was quite windy here, but still mild enough to be out of doors without a parka, even without a jacket for a little while in the afternoon sun. Congratulations on the new stove for your cottage, and on the great price. Wishing you many happy meals!