progress

Another thing I did this last weekend was weave.  A lot.  My Beloved commented on how long I was able to sit and weave.  Part of it was that I have gained some endurance.  Part of it was that I am learning and that is always exciting.  Part of it wast that I got to change colors which always puts a smile on my face.

Part of it was that I had to pay attention and I could not worry as hard.  My Grandmother fell last week.  She is 99 and 3/4.  We are planning her 100th birthday party and she broke her hip at a friends home last week.  A silly little fall.  Talk about me being worried though.  And my tall short person!  Worried!  Her Grandmother and Grandfather and Mother are supposed to live for eternity, doncha know!  I get threatened!  It puts a smile on my face to be that well loved after all the tribulations but she comes by her worry honestly.  I worry.  I worry well.  This weaving and the sock from yesterday were worry beads.  They kept my hands busy and because I was learning, I was able to pay attention to something other then my worries.  As the tall short person said, I have never prayed so hard unless the Beloved or the Tall Short person are in the hospital.  The sock and the weaving hold my prayers.  I become like Grandmother Spider and weave my prayers into the cloth I am making.  

My type of worry beads.  And the prayers were answered.  Surgery went well.  My Grandmother was sitting and standing this last weekend.  Her daughters were going to find a rehab facility they were happy with.  Best not to get in the way of those three, especially when it comes to their Mother.  She should be moved today or tomorrow.  It is supposedly close to a frozen custard place that she likes.  What a way to make a smile!

It does not mean my hands are any less still.  Just the prayers are not so adamant.  Quieter prayers.  Because I can be quieter.  Peace.  Healing.  Love.  Balance.  Joy.  Every day prayers.  What a better way to pray then to bind prayers into something your loved ones will use?

turning a heel

I just had to share.  I was not feeling very energetic this weekend so I spent a lot of time sitting with my knitting.  My Beloved's sock.  He wish to have tall socks and I got a handle on the top.  It is really not a cuff because it is thirteen inches long.  There are many errors and I showed it to him.  He likes the errors and the uniqueness of the errors.  I think he may be a bit touched.

I had always heard stories from my Father about my Grandmother knitting socks.  He always made it seem that the heels were painful.  With those stories and knowing my Grandmother was a fabulous knitter, I approached the heel with some trepidation.  It was much easier then I expected!  I just followed the pattern.  Since I have already changed the pattern once, this is probably a good thing.  This sock was supposed to be a crew length, not to the knee!

I am so pleased.  The sock has a heel.  I know I will have to do it again and I am hoping to have enough patience with myself that there will be ease.

finding some peace

The last couple weeks have been difficult  And then my Grandmother fell.  She broke her hip and had to have a partial hip replacement last night.  It was just not an extra stress I needed.  When I feel that way, a pot of tea and weaving after work helps.  My Beloved joined me on the floor to chat and feed me roasted broccoli from the garden.  He likes to watch me and noticed I am getting faster.  He asks me questions about the pattern and colors.  I am always so excited when I can change color.  The measurements are so exact!  The number of fingers.  Four, three, two, three, four.  

He even likes he waves because I am having trouble with tension.  Learnings.  This rug will never be perfect but I have learned a lot.  I learn more every day.  The next one will be better because I think there will always be another one.  And I have a yearning for a dye bath and white sheets to see what that would make.  

Peace is breathing one day at a time.  One minute at a time.  And doing that next task.  Very much a blessing.

ancho cherry venison with gluten free flat bread

Having my Beloved go hunting means we actually eat more meat.  Yes, it is venison and pig but more.  I have been trying to find a recipe that I had in the past and cannot find it so I made something up.

Ancho Cherry Venison

1 pound venison for fajitas (in another words, the left over bits from butchering) or other fajita type meat

1/2 cup dried cherries

4 dates

1 dried ancho chili

Boiling water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 large onion or 1 small, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a bowl, put the cherries.

Pit the dates and them to the cherries.  Take the stem of the ancho chili and tear up and add to the bowl.  Cover with boiling water.  Let sit for a half hour or more.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a dutch oven, over medium high heat, put olive oil in the pan and heat.  Add the chopped onion.  Cook until starting to brown.

Add the venison and garlic.  Let brown but not cook through.  

Pour the chili mixture into a blender container and blend until smooth.  Add the tomato paste and blend ten seconds more.  Pour into the dutch oven until the meat is covered (I had leftovers).

Take the meat off the heat and cover.  Put in the oven for about 1 hour.

It will be nice and bubbly.  Serve on rice or flat bread or tortillas.

I had made some gluten free flat bread because that is what I was asked to do.  It was my first attempt at a gluten free flour tortilla in ages.  They did not turn out badly at all!

My Beloved thought this was very decadent after a very long day at work!  Very yummy!

i do not go to the gym

I always found going to the gym boring.  It is probably why I do so many other physical things.  One of my favorite things to do is garden.

This is the majority of our winter garden.  I planted lots of broccoli and then a bit of kale, cabbage, and lettuce.  Broccoli does have a tendency to be a favorite though.  And I enjoy flowers.  My Beloved thinks everything I plant should be edible but sometimes you do need food for the soul.

But then we have freezes and the flowers look like the picture.  My whole garden becomes a dead mass.  So take out my garden fork and start digging.  I sprinkle any of the flower seeds that are on the plants over the garden.

I end up with this.  I have gotten good work done and my body knows it!  Now my garden is almost ready for the next planting.  I am going to plant more in the front yard this year then last.  I am hoping eggplant and tomatoes, cantaloupe and watermelon, maybe a bit of lettuce and cucumbers, peppers.  I find that my summer garden is never as easy as my winter garden but I still enjoy it.