Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nothing to See Here

Just a wet, cold day here.  Here is the pug on a sunny day.

Winter

Good morning!  As you can see winter arrived on the coast.  Covered up the lemon tree and brought a plant inside.  We still have potatoes growing, we will have to see what happens.  Chicken and dumplings tonight!

My mother-in-law's dumpling recipe:

4 eggs
2 half egg shell's worth of cooking oil
2 half egg shell's worth of milk
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cream of tartar
Flour until it is stiff enough to roll

I use a floured mat to roll out the dumplings and a pizza cutter to cut them into squares and put them in the soup.  It simmer about half an hour, the dumplings should be floating to the top.

Still Here

Well of course I am working on socks, this pair is for the oldest for Christmas.   The youngest is in his last year of high school.  Everyone in the middle are doing well also.  I am blessed.  My husband came home with a bean pot and warmer that belonged to his mother.

And an enameled cast iron dish he calls the macaroni dish.

This pot followed me home one day.

And I bought a clay bread baker from a potter in New Orleans.  Definitely a weakness as I have three of the damn things from different potters.

Most of the Sawtooth Oaks my husband started last year are between 1 to 2 feet tall.  

This lemon tree is a dwarf that I bought my mother-in-law many years ago.  We planted it here and there are 15 lemons on it now.  

I will have more news in the upcoming months.   A lot will have to do with planting.  I bought this book not too long ago and when it arrived I thought it couldn't be very helpful since it was pretty thin, but it is a good book for someone starting out.

The weather went from hot drought to wet, freezing cold very quick!   I will post again soon and I hope this finds you well.

Cool Morning

It was 71 degrees when we woke up this morning in south Mississippi.  I am grateful for the break in the weather.  The garden has gone wild, given over to the insects and weeds for now.  I canned 20 quarts of tomato sauce this past weekend.

This is my sock yarn blanket that I have been using what is left from my skeins of socks I have made in the past. My daughter has her eye on this one.  She likes boho decorating.  It is coming along slowly and will be put away for a while when I start on my Christmas projects.  

Now I know this looks like a stick but I purchased the L hook from Shady Groves on Etsy.  I have been contemplating making my own someday but I like to buy unique hooks from other people.  My husband brought me tree branch, more like a small log, and said "Here, I got you a crochet hook". He's a funny guy.  I am not using this to make this blanket, I am hoping to use a heavier yarn with this.  It is a beautiful hook.

Have a great day!

And Yet My Hooks And Needles Go On

I posted previously about Ravelry's new policy in my last post .  What this has unleashed is amazing.  Prominent podcasters and enthusiasts are calling for proof!  Where do you buy your yarn from?  Whose patterns are you buying?  We have lists!  You don't like the new policy?  Well, that must be your white fragility showing or you must be a white supremacist!  Political segregation is all this is.  Call it what you like.  We won't go after you quiet conservatives as long as you stay quiet. If you are a gay man who calls for diversity, well, we will rip you apart over an instagram post calling for it and harass you until all social media is pulled. In a quote from a avid Ravelry user "This is how we fight back!".  SO on Ravelry, please celebrate your love of yarn but act as judge and jury against everyone else.  Exaggerating?  Gregory Patrick is a gay conservative.  He is known as Mad Man Knitting.  He was issued a threat.  This is his response:

Bravo!  Gregory is a nice southern gentleman, I wouldn't piss him off.  It's sad really.
As I stated in my last post, I read blogs, follow people and listen to podcasts that do not share my views.  I have for years.  Not everyone has to share my views, feel the way I do about issues nor vote the way I do.  The overall content has always been there for me to be a fan, the same way you may be reading this blog and do not agree with what I have to say.  After witnessing the yarn community turning into a police state,  I have quietly unsubscribed, unfollowed and unliked many pages, some of whom I followed for years. It has lightened my load and pinpointed my focus in my yarn crafts so I guess I should be grateful for that. The call for proof and receipts can be chalked up to money talks and bullshit walks.
Well, my money is walking and my bullshit will stay on my blog.

Just off the needles:

Made my husband his first pair of toe up socks.  He likes them.  It is coming time to weed out his drawer of starter socks that I have made.  The ones that look like a tube sock with a little bit of a heel.  He has been a good sport.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Ravelry's No Trump Policy

Ravelry's No Trump Policy   There is also a good article posted by The Federalist.  

Ravelry is a knit/crochet site with 8 million members.  I had been a member since 2008.  I get political on my blog from time to time and on my personal Facebook page.  I use my sewing, and other fiber art pursuits as a neutral place.  I listen to podcasts on these subjects and have had to unsubscribe to a few that have crossed the line.  I am an adult, I do not expect people to share  my point of view on things.  I politely listen and pay attention to the content that is relevant to me and move on.  
This new policy started with someone posting a pattern for a Trump 2020 cowl.  It's acceptable to buy a pink pussy hat pattern or a fuck Trump pattern.  If you are going to ban one political stance then ban all of them.  I was on several groups where this debate was getting heated.  Normally I am quiet but I posted this part of the Ravelry policy in the debates :  

• Do not weaponize this policy by entrapping people who do support the Trump administration into voicing their support.
• Similarly, antagonizing conservative members for their unstated positions is not acceptable.

I was called a racist by one group owner.  I just left the groups.  Ravelry adapted this policy from a RPG group.  Here is the thread.  They have no problem telling users if you don't like it, get the fuck out.

There has also been suggestions that admins go the extra mile and track member activity on other social media avenues to expel members.  This idea has not been entertained.  One popular response is to call people racists and the battle cry of  "this is how we fight back".  

It is sad, but hey, Ravelry is getting national attention. So my attention and money will go where I feel it needs to go.

Garden life and Growing Gifts

The garden is in full swing.  Potatoes look good so far this year after the diseased results last year.  There is also a parsnip growing from a top we planted.  Beans are perky, garlic has sent up shoots and we have extra tomato plants growing with the new crop from last year.

A fig tree arrived as a gift from my coworker after my MIL's passing.  It is a nice healthy tree, we are not sure if we will keep this as we aren't huge fig people, but maybe we will.  It likes it here.

My husband brought home one of the citrus trees that I bought for my MIL.  It had to live in a pot in Missouri and we are anxious to put it in the ground and let the roots spread out.  The tree is probably 7 or 8 years old and has a few lemons on it already. 

We had a lot of heavy rain and thankfully flooding hasn't been to bad along the coast.  

Hell No Joe!

Enough said.

Random

Haven't been posting for a while.  So much going on.  Garden is in and hopefully with the crazy weather we are having on the coast it will hold up.  I planted Garlic for the first time and am keeping my fingers crossed. 
My husband has been brewing his own beer and found a bread recipe for the used grain.  It's pretty good, this is my second go around with this recipe.  It makes two large loaves of bread.

On a rare visit to Hobby Lobby, I found two sweater/shawl brooches on clearance.  I only bought one Simplicity pattern for $1.99.
 

Last weekend it happened, I bought the bucket list sewing machine.  I have always wanted a Singer Featherweight 221 and as I was talking about my new machine to my hairdresser a month or so back I was telling her about Featherweights.  She just tosses out, "I have one of those, want to buy it?"  Really?  So, this happened:

Haven't had a chance to use it yet....I just want to look at it.  It's from 1956. 

A Brief History of A Life

My mother-in-law Carol passed away last night.  She thought she had a cold and found out she had cancer.  She was 87.  She was born in Oklahoma in 1932, the only daughter of a rancher who settled in the area when it only had a train depot and a general store.  She could tell you when they got plumbing and when they had to add on to the house because she was the only girl.   What I didn't know about being self-sufficient, she gladly showed me how it was done.  She met her Joe in college after the war, where he had parachuted into Normandy, was captured by German soldiers and spent the entire time in a prison camp until it was liberated.  He had a rough childhood growing up in railroad cars since his father worked for the railroad.  His father placed him and his brother in Boys Town and he was present there when they made the movie.  They ran away and road the rails until he enlisted in the Army.  Joe and Carol married and had two children.  Carol was a pioneer in the sense that she decided to go back to college and earn her doctorate in a time where women just settled down to have a family and raise children.  She didn't just juggle time but also distance.  She wouldn't kiss any one's ass and was sorely disappointed when she wasn't offered tenure at the college where she worked.  So, she opened the first kindergarten in her area.  After she closed the kindergarten, Carol excelled at all things domestic.  How could she not?  Her mother ran the 4H programs and Carol grew up learning to knit and sew and was winning ribbons at eight years of age.  She had a small double wedding with her brother with only 100 people invited to the reception but over 200 people showed up to the church just to see her wedding gown.  Her reputation as a seamstress was famous not just in her hometown but in states where she worked in department stores before her marriage while she was attending undergraduate school.  She was very cosmopolitan and kept up with the latest fashions for herself and her daughter.  She was an active member of her church and community.  She was an incredible sketch artist and a tough task master.  She was her own worse critic.  She loved her garden, that is where she was the happiest.  In her actions and deeds she was forever a teacher.  This post doesn't begin to describe her life with any justice, just sorrow at her loss.  

Keeping Busy

Simplicity 8423 View A.  I made this in a very thin knit material that I probably will not use again.  At least I am putting the new machine to use.

I finally tried out my new Amish Swift.  Gift from my mother from Amazon.  I wound three balls of sock yarn and I tried to use the Nostepinne but I may have to use a thicker yarn to get the hang of it.  A swift sure did make ball winding a lot easier!

Time of the Year

This is the time of the year where everyone is anxiously awaiting spring.  I have been struggling with blueberry bushes, do I want to add more and knuckle down?  What plants are going in the garden this year?  I am late with starting seedlings.  Now is also the time to start planning crafted Christmas gifts, I am already taking stock of yarn and various other materials.  I have been saving bits of yarn from socks and hats and have started a large granny square blanket. 

Not large enough yet but it will get there. 
We have also been toying with buying land but have decided to put that on the back burner for now.  The only land cheap enough are in flood zones and with a proposed casino in the works our land prices will go up.  Timing is everything.
So it's Monday, and I always love the question about what I did during the weekend.  My answer is usually, I planned the weekly menu, baked two loaves of bread, sewed some clothes and worked with some yarn.  Pretty exciting stuff for the twenty and thirty somethings lol. The flu and sinus infections are running rampant here, please take care. 

Needle Biopsy of the Breast

I was debating if I should share here or not.  I had a biopsy done and everything is fine but when I asked other women who have had this done the popular response was it wasn't that bad.  Until you go in to have it done it doesn't feel that way. 
Radiologyinfo.org has a thorough explanation on how things work.
After having two mammograms and possible an ultrasound the last thing you want to hear is that you need to have a biopsy.  That means a visit to a surgeon for yet another breast exam and an explanation of what was to occur.  I had a large calcification and plus my age they decided they needed a closer look.  Hopefully you will be able to go in right away.  Because of the holiday season things were backed up which gave me three weeks of having my imagination run away with me.  The person at the radiology department booked my appointment, answered all my questions and made sure I had a direct line to contact her again.  They offer Xanax.  If you choose this option, which I did, you will need a ride home. 
I had a great team.  I met with the radiologist right before the procedure, he explained everything again and then the nurse came in with the Xanax. 
You will be laying on a table face down, away from everyone, breast in a hole in the table and a machine will compress the breast.  More pressure than your first mammogram, less than the second.  I was a bit worried I would be uncomfortable laying on my stomach for an hour.  The most important thing I can say is relax your body.  The more relaxed you are and the quicker you are in position the less time it takes.  I was done in about 25 minutes.  They are also going to put in a metal marker so they can find the spot easier in the future.  They will numb you on the outside and inside.  There were a couple of times there was pressure and they will hold your back down.  Stay relaxed.  It helps.  I was surprised when they said they were finished.  Like I said earlier, I had a great team in there. You will also have another mammogram right after.
My results were phoned from the surgeon the next day and radiology called me the day after to check on me.  Wear a bra.  They will give you and ice pack when it is done.  They placed steri tape over the wound and a dressing over that.  The dressing comes off that night and I got a waterproof bandage to place over the wound for the next two day so I can shower.  The steri tape came off six days later and the wound underneath was healed.   I took the next day off, was sore, no bruising.  I hope this helps.  I pray for you if you have to go through this that this will be the end of your testing and not the beginning.

Feels Like Winter

We have had a wet, humid winter here and yesterday morning was one of the rare occasions that we had a freeze this winter.  My recent fails were a hat I don't even want to talk about and over dehydrated mangoes.  I made two aprons over the holidays.  We have a local sewing store with a limited supply of fabric but I had an itch and came up with these:

My daughter and I stopped at the Redwing outlet in the next town. They had a great deal on a very limited selection of women's shoes.  One pair for $15 and if you bought two you only had to pay $20.  No brainer.  I opted for the free shoe jewelry on my pair. 

 

 

We are back to being warm and humid today.