a pop decision that was fifteen years in the making (another tool)

I have to laugh at myself.  I am one of those people who looks and looks, usually not finding anything.  The stools and chairs in my house have always been a bit tall for my sewing machine.  I make do but I have to lean over and after awhile, my back starts to hurt.  Not good posture.  I have sat on every bench or chair that I though might work for about the last fifteen years.  I do the same with rocking chairs.

I found a bench in Bellingham.  It is 18 inches high and wide enough for Koda Bear to join me.  Or there is room enough for him to sit on my lap.  I am so enjoying the sewing, even though I am very tired.  I came back to work with people out.  The sewing, the spinning, the gardening are helping to relax me after a hellish day.  And now my back does not hurt.  That is just work a smile.

a sucker for tools

I miss sleeping in a tent, even if it is in the garage loft.  I do have to say I did not help to fell one tree this time.  Or stack a log.  I am the champion log stacker.  No gravel moving or building a driveway by hand.  Yes, that is me.  No building building.  I was a slug.  I sat in my new rocking chair in the loft and spun.  Baked a couple loafs of bread.  Watched Koda Bear play in the dirt and swim in the lake.  Slug.

I spun on my new Turkish drop spindles.  There are actually two styles there.  The old and the new.  All handmade by Joel Grinstead.  The new style spins forever.  It is a joy.  Now, if I can just not feel the urge to buy more spindles!

Or fiber:  alpaca blended with silk and cashmere.  All so soft.  I am thinking about trying to make a forever shawl with a a shell pattern instead of single crochet.  I will just have to see what I think.  But I am tempted to make a sweater based on a store bought one I have.  I will just have to see because I cannot decide.

dresses and quilts

I finished all the dresses I had officially planned with the new fabric.  I am really enjoying the a-line and simple sheath shapes.  With everything with a bit of grey in the tones, I am feeling very elegant even though my body is swollen in interesting places due to infection.  I keep hoping that I will heal faster but that just does not happen.

After each dress was done, I cut all the scraps up into squares.  As I put together the quilts I have already laid out, I am making more quilt blocks.  I am finding these very exciting and calming.  This will be the first quilt that will have cashmere and wool in it with linen and cotton.  Also, it will be the first quilt that is all solid.  

It is going to be hard to be away from it for almost two weeks.  We are going to the mountain and I am not taking my "portable" sewing machine.  I will have one spinning project and one crochet project with me, and my sewing kit.  If I really want to sew, I will hand sew.  It will not be the first time. 

I am rather tired and with the chaos happening at work, I am looking forward to being on the mountain.  It will not be long enough.  Maybe I will take a few squares to hand sew.  I have many.  It would work.

cold soaked oatmeal

When it comes to oatmeal, I like hot steel cut oats.  It is about all I eat anymore but quick and old-fashioned oats all taste like flour paste too me.  Flour paste was actually used as wallpaper paste so I could have said that but then someone in my life would have asked if I had ever tasted wallpaper paste.  It becomes a circular argument.

One of the summer interns that I work with was eating this cold soaked oatmeal concoction one morning, most mornings.  I asked Miss C about it and she told me the recipe.  My Beloved keeps telling me it is too hot to eat his normal breakfast so I thought I would try it, even though I only had quick oats in the house for granola. 

He liked it.  Oatmeal in summer.  The texture reminds me of my Dad's cream of wheat so this is not something I will eat but I did not make it for me.  Three nights this week I have put this together so far so my Beloved has breakfast.  Now Koda Bear, he is still eating fishes in the morning.  I am with the small bear person on that one if I cannot have tea and toast or some type of bread.

cold soaked oatmeal

1/2 cup oatmeal (every recipe I read said old-fashioned but I have been using quick)

1/2 cup dairy or non-dairy milk (I have been using honey almond)

1/2 cup greek, bulgarian, or icelandic yogurt

a squirt of agave or maple syrup, what is to your taste

1/2 cup berries:  raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries

The night before, in a mason jar, mix the oatmeal, yogurt, milk, and sweetener together.  Put the fruit on top.  Close the lid.  Put in the refrigerator unitl the next morning when you are ready to eat.  More fruit can be added or some nut butter too.

a swedish style rye bread

I have been having the urge to bake more and more bread.  There is only so much bread one household can eat.  I have been told to give it away.  

Saying that, fishes seem to be the other big thing that is wished for in our household.  Smoke salmon.  Baked halibut that is similar to fried.  Fried catfish.  Fish has been asked for for breakfast.  

After having a rye that was not flavorful enough out, I decided to see if I could find a simpler rye then I had found before.  Yes, it was very good but I like not having to have extra special ingredients in the house.

I found Swedish recipes for kymenlaakso.  They had other Swedish names attached but nothing translated well.  It is basically an artisan bread made with 100% rye flour, salt, and a starter.  And time.  Lots of time because there is not a lot of gluten in rye. 

The resulting bread was not soft per see but it is moist.  Sliced thin it is chewy and flavorful.  With smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and thinly sliced red onion, life is pretty good.

swedish style rye bread

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup rye

the rest of a 24 ounce bag of dark rye (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup water

1 to 2 teaspoons of salt (this is to your taste.  experiment)

The night before, refresh the starter by mixing in 3/4 cup water and 1 cup rye.  Cover and let sit overnight or until bubbly.  Save a bit for next time (I use whatever I have in whatever bread I am making).

Mix in 1 cup water.  Mix in 2 cups rye.  Cover and let become bubbly.  With the rye having less gluten and no sugar, this may take a bit.

After the sponge gets bubbly, mix in the salt.  Mix in enough rye to make a soft dough.  Knead until smooth.  I found it took most of the rest of the bag of rye and it was a bit sticky still.  I did not wish to make the dough any stiffer.  

Cover and let rise until double.  This may take overnight depending on how stiff your dough is.  You can put it in a ziploc and let is rise in the refrigerator.  It will make the bread more sour.

Butter a large loaf pan.  Shape the bread to fit in the pan.  It will be sticky soft.  Cover and let rise until puffy.  This will take time.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 1/2 hours.

Yum.