back to the city

I am back to the city after being on the mountain for five days.  I have not been back to the city for a full 48 hours and I have already had frustrations.  But I am trying to remain calm and deal with this life.  I know part of it is that I did not sleep well last night but part of it is truly frustration.  

When we travel, I may have mentioned in the past, I drive to audiobooks.  I like Kerry Greenwood's Earthly Delights series a lot.  It is about a baker who solves mysteries.  By the time I get back, I am really in the mood to bake.  I wished to make bara brith.  It is not hard.  The recipe is here.  But a main ingredient is buttermilk.  

I now have a small grocery store and a WalMart that I can walk to.  With my state of mind, I knew the WalMart would be too much so I went to the small grocery store.  It really is not that small.  No buttermilk on their shelves.  Fourth largest city in the United States and no buttermilk.  Every other grocery store would have meant longer away from home and I just could not deal.  My Beloved suggested that I make butter and use the leftover liquid.  The recipe calls for cultured buttermilk and that would take days.  I used a mixture of yogurt and milk.  I made do.

There was a lot of upgrades to the mountain.  One of my favorite is that my Dad gifted me with a very basic pressure cooker.  The manual looks like something from the 1950's but the gasket was nice and fresh so it was not that old.  I now can cook dried beans in about a half hour after soaking them for eight hours.  I think this is lovely.  By the end of a trip, I am always craving a bowl of beans and rice.  I now can cook it on the mountain.  It is just way too easy for me to cook too much!  It is what I do.

More pictures of my week away are to come.  It was a good time with the boyos.  Lots of work.  I did take a tumble so that slowed me down for an afternoon.  And there was a long walk.  It was good.  I am not ready to be back.  

crackers

We have been getting the Imperfect Produce box.  They are just not produce.  I have been getting crackers.  It is much to easy for me to go through a box of nut thins in a day.  I find the crunch addictive.  Especially since it is better if I stay away from corn.

One of the authors I follow posted about making crackers at home to reduce packaging waste.  I made crackers years ago and it made me go hmmm.  I loved that recipe but it did feed a family of seven crackers for a week.  Or in another words, made too much.  I could have cut it down.  I am good about that but I wanted something that used olive oil instead of butter.  And other possibilities.  It also means that Koda Bear gets to help me make the snacks he is eating.  Honestly, everyone is eating.

 

The recipe I decided to start with was from Food52.  It was very basic.  Pie crust with two eggs added to it basically.  Olive oil instead of butter.  I think they are wonderful.  But there are crackers left in the refrigerator which means the rest of the hordes do not think they are quite right.  But that could be a good thing because it means I have crackers?  When the hordes think the recipe is right, I will share it.  And all the possible modifications.

For our travels starting tomorrow, I was thinking about creating a batch of these with parmesan and black pepper.  Just a smidgen.  Something for nibbles with tea.  I also have mjurstat dough in the refrigerator that I was thinking about rolling out and baking into crackers as I packed.  I find traveling with nibbles that are our own food and having meals for the road just works better.  But then, I could travel cross country with a loaf of bread, a chunk of cheese (or peanut butter and jam), and the makings for tea and be happy.  I do start craving a pancake or two, beans and rice, and a hamburger but then the cheap in me comes out.  I might get an ice cream cone someplace.

Hopefully, I will have pictures from the travels for this space when I come back.  To the mountain we go!  Just some of the hordes.  

just working away on my shop

Life has not left a lot of time for new creativity.  I have been working on bags for my shop.  I realized that I had sold a few but not replaced them.  A lot of my time currently trying to replenish my stock.  Or coaching.  Six hours of coaching on Sunday and not a moment to touch the sweater I am crocheting that I brought with me.

It is not the same as making something new but it is making.  Making helps my soul and mind.  Even if it is repetitive (like a quilt) or making the same thing over and over again.  It is why I think of myself as an artisan. 

And I may have a range for my dye making.  We pulled the old gas one out of the apartment.  There was a supposed gas leak but the range was old enough that a new one was not too much of a surprise.  I need to clean out the Tea House so my dye studio can be created.  But I do believe I will need to wait until it is a tad cooler.  

Then, I would also have a place to play with pigments!  I have a small sample that I wish to use.  I was thinking painting on fabric or block printing on a skirt I am making from a nightgown that started to fall apart.  A piece of linen it became that just needs a waistband, buttons, and dyed with tea.  I drink tea most mornings before I get dressed but love white nightgowns.  They do not really mix!  Another worktable to build and shelves!

By the way, I am reading books that rhyme with Koda Bear if my prose seems to do the same!

I know this is a jumble and babble but there is also a antihistamine at work as well as rhyming prose.  Apologies.

soul work

The curves of the road of life have been many this week.  More then I have wished.  But they were curves that did not surprise me greatly because I saw them coming about two years ago.  A person behaved as I expected.  No better.  But it does add curves.  Even more curves then the leak in the wall.

I had pictures of what I wanted this quilt to look like in my head.  But I started down a different path.  That was such a no go that I could not get back to the pictures.  So I laid this out.  I had a small bit of help from Blue.  Koda Bear was playing.  But now, I can sit and sew.  I am working on bags for the shop so I will add this in as I go.  This quilt will probably end up in the shop too.  I love the colors but they are so pale that they would not work well in my life.  Unless there was a cabin I could retreat too for quiet.  And I still would probably end up dyeing it with tea.

I have two books checked out from the library about plant dye currently.  One I have already put on my Amazon wish list because it is about growing indigo as well as dyeing with it.  The thought of growing my own indigo and woad is intriguing.  As my yard changes, because the boyos are now filling in the "swimming hole" they were digging, I may have more room for a garden.  First, it was a play structure taking over my old garden space.  Then the hole.  It is just a good spot for keeping an eye on the garden. 

I have not even got to the other book yet.  Or played with the pigment I was sent.  I have spoiled myself with a monthly subscription to pigment.  I cannot go out hunting pigment where I am currently.  I have too much city around me.  And too much mud below me.  Pigment is easier to find with stones and rocks around.  Maybe sometime too I can go hunt pigment.  The mountain does not really have any likely spots.  It is mostly granite.  Igneous rocks are not as good for pigment as sedimentary rocks are.  Most of the rocks on the mountain are igneous with a small bit of metamorphic.  And, the geophysicist comes out.  Oh well.

I will be going to the mountain soon so I thought I would take a look around where I know some outcrops are.  That is if there is enough time with cutting plants back.  We have not gotten a chance to get up there this year with all the changes.  But, it is there.

slow going

One more sleeve and the bottom ribbing and then this sweater will be done.  I am so excited but life has thrown those wonderful twists and turns that are making this project slower then I might wish.  I am hoping to have it done before I go north but that may not happen. Though, even in August I may not need it.  I know better then not to take a sweater though.  If I do not take a sweater, I usually come home with a new sweater!

I am hoping there might be a small bit of this yarn left when I am done.  I will added it to  my poncho if there is.  I keep thinking I would like that poncho to just be a small bit larger.  Not large enough to get in the way of my kneading bread dough but maybe long enough to cover more of my arm.  I figure a hodge podge poncho is just right.  And if I decide to go ahead and plant dye some of the wool I am spinning with red cabbage, I can dye the whole thing to give it the same tone throughout.

I am working on more shelves for the display room.  It should have gone faster then it has but life.  Twists.  Turns.  And Koda Bear has been helping me.  That just means it takes longer because we talk through the why I do something and how we are doing it.  I should really go work on them when I get off the computer but I may take a nap.  I strained some muscles and there is more pain then I would like.  Sometimes it is better to fall then not fall.

Maybe something will be done by Saturday?  Just a slow week with eating the same things.  Lots of fish and veg with bread.  I have not tweaked my bread except I keep using up all the leftover oatmeal from breakfasts.  It is what I do to make my porridge bread.  I might make a few more cinnamon rolls too.