It's Serious, Folks...

We are seriously in "yarn chicken" here... I have 14-ish rows to go on the Close to You Shawl. And this is all the yarn I have left... 

I'm praying and knitting really fast (fast for me, I mean). Because it's a proven knitting theory that if you knit faster, the yarn will all work out. Plenty of knitting bloggers have said so, and I'm going to believe them. 

See, this pattern takes 400-420 yards of yarn. I have 400. Of course, I didn't bother to check gauge, because the pattern says gauge isn't really an issue. Well, actually, what it says is "gauge isn't crucial but will affect your yardage."

I'm going with "gauge isn't crucial" and knitting fast. That works. 

I hope. 

If I get too stressed out, I'll switch back to the Green Travelling Socks. Socks are always good for regaining your knitting confidence if it's been battered by the Gauge Gorgon... 

I've actually gotten a few more rows on the Green socks. I'd been bringing them everywhere, and dang it all -- I'm knitting on those things. I want that bag empty and I want socks. Still - I have reservations about the colorway. 

I'm not even sure why I bought it. I must have felt SOMETHING when I bought the yarn. Or was it just the compulsion to buy sock yarn? It's a new-ish Opal colorway, and maybe I couldn't find anything better in the collection. 

No. That can't be right...

Opal always has a colorway that I like. At least one. Usually several. Usually, MOST of them. 

I've gotten compliments on these. Whether it's because I'm knitting socks or people really, really like the color - maybe I'm not seeing it. Maybe I'm jaded with the Plain Vanilla pattern; tired of it again. 

But really? What can you do with this colorway? I could have tried Jaywalker, which is a common zig-zag pattern. But those are notoriously tight if you have "biker calves" like I do. So I didn't want to waste my time knitting something that I can't wear. And nobody else in my family would be able to wear them -- unless I knitted them for The Kid, in his size 11 feet... Maybe I should have done that. 

That would've been great: the mile-long socks (and that's just the heel to toe)...

The Garden Giveth...

The salad I had for lunch the other day had our home-grown romaine in it. 

Let me tell you about home-grown romaine...It's very different from even the organic romaine I've been buying. 

Of course, you can't see it for the avocado and radishes. But it's got a definitely different texture. It's chewy, kind of like kale. It's got substance where the organic romaine I've been buying seems to be getting more and more "iceberg," in terms of being somewhat insubstantial and watery tasting. 

I mean, when I first started eating romaine, it was a really nice lettuce. I could definitely tell the difference from iceberg and even the spring mix I used to grow. Romaine kind of "held up" my salad. 

But not lately. It seems like the romaine has transformed and it's not as filling - or nutritious - as it used to be. 

This home-grown stuff reminds me a lot of kale. It reminds me in the way I have to slice it rather than it "cracking" -- like with the regular romaine, I can snap the leaves into fork-able chunks. This stuff, I had to kind of knife through. And I loved it. It was filling. It soaked up the dressing and made the avocado seem even creamier. And it has as much snap as the radishes. 

Win-win and we'll be growing this again!

Speaking of Food...

This is my take on Nigella's "Pancetta Orzotti." So - I was up late one night, and I watch her specials (often over and over because of the way our TV service works) because they're only a half-hour and usually enough to send me off to dreamland. 

This recipe caught my eye because it actually only takes about 15 minutes, and I love risotto. I just don't always have time to make it. Hubby can make it now, since I showed him how. But if he's pressed for time and I'm pressed for time? No risotto. 

The best thing about risotto is leftover risotto for lunch or breakfast. If not, then dinner. 

You can Google the real recipe. Here's what I did:

Bacon & Pea Orzotti

1 (12 oz) pkg. uncured bacon
2 1/2 c. frozen peas
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 box (1 lb) orzo pasta
4 c. + 1/2 c. of boiling water
1/2 stick butter (unsalted)
Ground pepper
Salt (lightly!!)
Penzey's Tuscan Sunset salt-free Italian Spice Blend
1 handful shredded Parm (fresh, not the crap in the green cardboard container!)

Chop the bacon into 1/4" (ish) pieces. Just slice it right across, and it slices better if it's half-frozen. Place it into a dutch oven or large pot. Saute over medium-high heat till crispy. 

Drain off some of the bacon fat; just have about 2-3 tablespoons left. Turn heat down to medium-low. Dump the frozen peas in, right out of the bag. Stir them around to "glaze" them with the bacon fat, and then dump in the box of orzo, stirring to glaze the pasta.

Add the chopped garlic, Penzey's and pepper. Then pour 4 cups of BOILING water over all of this, and clamp a lid on it. Turn the heat to simmer, and set the timer for 10 minutes. 

In 10 minutes, check the pot. You MAY need to add a little more water; stir it around and see if it's getting toward al dente. Clamp the lid back on and let it simmer for another minute or so, to absorb the water. You want a little bit of "juice" in the pot. 

Turn off the heat. Cut the butter into chunks and toss into the pan. Stir around to butter the peas, bacon and orzo. This will be slightly creamy, with the starchy water. Taste it - does it need salt? Add a bit. Remember, the bacon and Parm will add salt, too. 

Add a handful of Parmesan, and stir it up. Serve. Yum. 

I like to add a bit more Parm on top of mine. Yes, that's my thumb. 

So instead of a 50-minute or so journey toward risotto, this took about 15-20 minutes, start to serving. This is definitely a keeper. 

NOTES:

**You can use chopped ham with this. If you use ham, you might want to add 2 T. or so of olive oil as you saute the ham, just so it adds that "glaze" and taste of the hammy oil to the dish. 

**I will experiment with using shrimp. I think it would work with shrimp, but obviously, you don't want to saute the shrimp that long -- you'll be chewing on a rubber tire. Maybe shrimp AND a bit of bacon? Hmmmmmmmmm. 

**Change up the seasonings. You knew I was going with Penzey's, right? Try Sunny Paris or if you want heat, Arizona. 

Young Living New Product...

So I'm working on cleaning out a building because we HAVE A PRIEST!! We announced it this past Sunday, so I can tell you. She's legit and we can't wait! She starts August 1st. 

Anyway, you have no place to shower. And then when I walk at noon, there's no place to shower. 

I've got these: Seedlings (our baby line) baby wipes. I figured that if you could use it on a baby's butt, I could use it as a "freshener" after a walk or after you've cleaned out a whole room to make space for the priest's office. 

There's 72 wipes in a package. Botanicals and essential oils are tender on your skin AND on baby's tushie. The wipes are nice and thick, so if you are changing a baby? No "wipe failure" while you're cleaning up a mucky butt. 

There's no chlorine, alcohol, parabens, phtalates, mineral oil, sulfates, animal-derived ingredients, synthetic fragrances, or synthetic dyes or colorants. 

Lavender, marigold, witch hazel, coriander, aloe vera, bergamot, Ylang Ylang and geranium...smells lovely! 

I wiped my face and arms down after tackling a huge pile of brush outside and moving stuff around inside. I think I'm taking these to the Joliet Prison when I go there next week to clean up and take some photographs to document the reconstruction of the prison into a new museum. 

Interested in cleaning your baby's bum in a natural way? Interested in having another way to freshen yourself conveniently without harsh chemicals? Leave a comment here and we'll chat!

Families Belong Together...

In the midst of the heat wave,  I was out photographing at a local Families Belong Together march. It was held in a more-or-less traditionally conservative area. But we march there because we want to normalize protest and prove that everyone does indeed have a voice. 

As one of the speakers said, "Protest is patriotic." We need to speak up when we see injustice. We need to contact our legislators. We need to be vocal at town meetings and such. 

And we need to vote. In EVERY election. They all count. 

Lest you think that the community was all "white-bread" liberals, aged hippies and entitled folk, there was a bit of diversity in both the crowds and the speakers. We had a Palestinian woman who's been here for FORTY years... And still, today she's told "go back where you came from." Wait. What? She's a citizen of this country. 

Oh, yeah. She's brown. 

That apparently is the thing. The racists are out in full voice. But they're not going to win. This isn't what we aspire to be. 

Unfortunately, this is what we ARE right now. Wait - you think we're not a racist country, right? Well. What's on the news is that we are. No, not the "fake news." Those people would have you believe that everyone that's "not you" is out to get you. That, kids, is called "paranoia." And they feed people this swill. And people suck it up. 

Maybe they're afraid of their place in the world. Maybe things are changing, in their minds, at "warp speed" and they can't keep up. They're uncomfortable with the changes happening so they're lashing out and letting their inner beast loose.

And that - seriously - is what people all over the world see. The idiots in the red hats, white golf shirts, khakis and brandishing tiki torches. 

Welcome to America - version "ick." 

I don't know about you, but my family came here. My great-grandpa came over because the Russians were invading Poland. Again. He figured he didn't stand much of a chance as a farmer who'd be conscripted to fight. So he came here. He wanted a better life. He worked in mills and factories his entire working life. He was a laborer and happy to be here. 

Hubby's family has much the same story. As do a whole bunch of us in this country. Because unless you're descended from the Native Americans, or First Nations or whatever the proper name is? You're NOT a "pure-blooded" American. 

None of us are. We are all immigrants. Some of us are closer to our immigrant roots, but all in all, we are a country made up of immigrants. 

Feeding the hatred of "the other" is the LEAST Christian thing you can do. And that brings me to the next thing: Firstly, we are not now, nor have we ever been, a nation founded on the Christian religion. Check out this link about the Treaty of Tripoli. It was signed in 1796, and so far, the Current Occupant hasn't reneged on this treaty. 

Though I wouldn't be surprised...

Though he's not all that smart, so he probably hasn't had anyone tell him about it yet...


The second President of the United States, John Adams, signed it. Now that's a Founding Father. 

Read your history. Or you're destined to repeat it. As you can see, we are repeating an ugly portion of our history. 

We are shutting our borders; we are denying asylum, a legal process that has to happen in the country you're going to. Not the one you're in. 

I mean, think about it: If I'm seeking asylum in Canada, why would I seek it in Minnesota? I'd want to LEAVE Minnesota to go to Canada and then beg them to take me in, because I'm in fear of my life, or I'm being persecuted. It's a legal procedure. 

This whole thing about the families being ripped apart is so not what we're about. It's so not why this country was created. But it's so where we're at. 

Kids being held ransom for a stupid wall. 

The toddler-in-chief is effectively stomping his foot. 

And Congress has no inclination to stop him. They're busy dismantling everything they can, in terms of the EPA, social safety nets, those regulations which ensure us a modicum of safety and security, and gleefully handing us over to corporatocracies, which, thanks to Citizens United, are now "people." CU and Mitt Romney... 

For many of us, activism doesn't come easily. For some of us, we think, "Wait, haven't we done this before?" 

Yeah. We have. And it looks like we're going to keep doing it. 

Instead of my usual Random Picture at the end, I'm leaving you with a few more shots of the protest. Yes, we were trolled online and a guy in a truck was harassing some of the marchers. But they trouped on and kept their heads (and their signs) high. 

We have the right to protest. You have the right to counter-protest. You don't have the right to be a jerk. 

What Have We Come To?

My grandparents were first-generation Americans. My great grandparents, who were in my life till I was about 14 (when the last of them died) were immigrants. Ellis Island. 

My great-grandpa on my mom's side left Poland because he wasn't keen on the idea of being conscripted into the Army. He saw that the Russians had guns. And the Polish? Well, not so much. So he left for America. He landed in Philadelphia, and then made his way to Chicago. Seems the idea of coal dust wasn't his idea of prosperity either. 

My great grandmother (mom's mom's side) spoke 4 languages. She raised her kids and learned English by listening to the Chicago Cub games. So now you know how I got to be a Cub fan. It used to bother me when people would think that she didn't "know anything" because she spoke with a heavy accent. She knew, in my young mind, so many things. She came from Croatia. She spoke Croatian, German, Italian and Polish (not necessarily in that order). And English... She taught me Croatian, but when I started school, she insisted we speak English. I'm sad about that. I don't remember much anymore, and my mom remembers almost no Croatian or Polish herself. 

So here we are, direct descendants of immigrants. 

With a mango in the White House, who's got the intelligence, and the attention span, of a fruit fly. And the nuclear codes. 

And we have white supremacists marching in Virginia. People have been injured and died. Funny how there've been no arrests. I wonder why that is. Hmmmm. 

And the best the mango can come up with (seems he lost his tweet-fingers today) is that the violence "is on all sides." 

Somehow, the folks rammed by the car? There was no violence there. At least till the car rammed them. It took the Governor of New York to sound more presidential as he condemned the whole idea of Nazis (for that's what they are - you must see that) marching in America today. 

My uncles fought in the war. My grandfather didn't - truth be told, his health was not good, and while he tried to enlist, he flunked the physical. My second cousins fought in another war or two. The patriotism runs deep in this immigrant-family that I'm a part of, even though we're far removed in this generation from that "immigrant" label. I doubt that my great-grandparents would've passed the Occupant's "test" for immigration - even with their advanced language skills. Which gives me a twinge since the twitter-fiend himself can't speak English all that well...

And there's far too much sabre-rattling. He's threatened North Korea, and now he's threatening China. All to avoid - or attempt to distract us from - the Russian scandal that's brewing. He's trapped like a rat on a sinking ship, and he's determined we're all going to go down before he will. 

That scares me. It should scare any thinking person. What have we come to? What is it with the open, blatant, palpable hatred, racism, and disdain for our basic commonalities and what we used to represent?

I grew up learning that America was a melting pot. The best of my Polish ancestors met with the best of your Irish ancestors, who learned from the neighbor's German ancestors -- and together, we were one people, determined to make life better for the next generation. 

But that's disappeared. Much like the glaciers and the permafrost. 

Can we get it back? How? And how soon?

Peace Rocks...

Will County Kindness Rocks is a project I've become involved in with the yoga studio. Right now, we're trying to get a workshop going combining yoga and rock painting. As you recall, I painted this a while ago. 

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that mid-August was when people started taking their kids back to school (when did that happen so early???). So we cancelled the first workshop and will reschedule it. In the meantime, I'm going to paint more rocks, and distribute the ones I've already painted. 

The group doesn't have a website, but you can find them on Facebook, if you want to check them out. Also, if you see a rock somewhere? Post a picture of it for them and tell them where you found it! 

Given everything happening? Perhaps this is fanciful. Perhaps it's "nothing." But I can't believe we can't start something small and watch it grow. I don't believe it's too late. 

Knitting...

So. This happened. I got squishy mail, and it's a simple project. I was in love with the yarn, so I got it. It'll match my winter coat (which, what with climate change, may never see the light of day if winter is mild...). It's from Expression Fiber Arts, and it's a beautiful silk + alpaca blend. 

I've got a couple of her hanks, and I can't wait to knit them up. Not for socks -- I'm doing shawlettes and this scarf. Of course, she's gorgeous and doing what she loves. 

Sometimes, I'm jealous. Lately, I've been feeling that life's passed me by, and now we're on the brink of disaster and what have I done? 

I know - tomorrow is another day. Thanks, Scarlet O'Hara. I'll try to remember that. It's overwhelming and I feel like I need to climb into a knitting hole or a reading hole. 

Ok, breathing... I went to my friend's house and helped her out with a project. As we were sorting through her stash, looking for needles, I was helping her organize projects + patterns, so that she could work on them without having to continually dig for stuff. She's got some medical problems and wasn't eager to go down to her basement unless someone was there - just in case. 

As we were going through her various totes (and thank goodness she had totes!), she said, "You can have this..." I asked her if she was certain, and she said, "I'm old - I'm probably not going to knit this up. And you deserve it." 

"This" -- this is Mongolian cashmere. From Mongolia. She brought it back when she went on a mission trip to teach music to kids. It's a kilo (more or less). Mongolian cashmere... Now, lest you keel over in a faint - she told me she paid the equivalent of $10.00 for it. Ten bucks. I'm going to keel over in a faint. 

It's so squishy and beautiful! So it's going to turn into a hap, I think. And if there's enough, maybe a very small Orenburg shawl. I have to figure out how to read the patterns for those, since they're not even a traditional "knitting" pattern, but lines and dashes. Yikes... 

And the sock continues. I'm about a quarter of the way down the leg of the second sock. Then, it's back to the February Lady Sweater, and the Soul to Soul sock so that I have two pair in a summer! 

I really have to repair the Shape It scarf. Maybe I'll bring it to my friend (I'm going to visit again soon), just so she can see what's going on. I'm also bringing over my haps book and the Orenburg lace book. 

There will be progress pics soon on the knitting on the needles. I thought I had a couple recent shots, but apparently not. 

Baking...

Russian Frosting Tips. Not as simple as Pinterest would have you believe. There's a real bit of "finicky" when it comes to the frosting. And thanks, but NOT on mini cupcakes! The tops wanted to peel off... Not cool. So my original recipe for buttercream - needed to be a tad stiffer. I stiffened up the pink, but it wasn't really enough. 

And the peach/orange? It was a bit too stiff. So the flower shapes there didn't quite "blend," where the roses (the pink) blended a tad too much. 

So it's a work in progress. 

Now, in fact, the roses were a piece of cake. So to speak. Normally, you'd do them by piping a cone of frosting, then switching to a rose petal tip, and spinning the cone of frosting on a frosting nail, crafting the rose petal by petal. I've done that for years. You have a little scissor-like device that you can remove the roses with and place them directly on a cake. Or you can do what my dad taught me: flash freeze them and put them on the cake after you can actually handle them. 

To do roses "the hard way" the frosting can be a little more "droopy" so the rose petals roll out a bit. 

For the Russian tips? It's got to be stiffer than I had it. Hubby helped me stiffen up the orange/peach, but I think I overcompensated on that because those are supposed to be fancy tulips. I had some yellow frosting and I was going to use a Number 1 tip to put the yellow on the stamens. But after 48 flowers? It's ok. Nobody will complain. 

But I want to fiddle with them a bit more and try to get the frosting where it needs to be. I also want to do a "cheat sheet" so that I know what each tip does. 

The tortellini salad is done, and all I have left to do is the baked beans, which I can deal with tomorrow after church. Brother is buying Popeye's chicken (change from the burgers/dogs/brats we were having) and Sis is doing potato salad. Now, if the weather cooperates, we should have a good party. Not sure if I'll bring candles. I didn't make 80 cupcakes (not going to happen...)... 

How Does the Garden Grow...

So yeah - the brown-eyed Susans definitely need splitting! They've really taken over that small front bed. The other side is more purple, and I tried to get a few of the bees buzzing around, but I missed. I do think I got buzzed by a hummingbird as I took this picture. They were hanging around the feeders and the phlox (the pink stuff there in the back). I thought it was a cicada or a big dragonfly, but upon reflection -- it was probably a hummingbird. I wasn't really paying attention and sometimes at this time of year, they get a little aggressive when you "bug" them while they're eating. 

I didn't see any butterflies on the dill this year. And the hostas are looking scraggly. I have to thin out the lily of the valley soon. I'll put it over near the rectory when the party stuff is all over and I have a weekend to devote to that garden. Whoever we hire as a new vicar will appreciate a maintenance-free (sort of) garden. 

This is the galardia - or at least that's what my old neighbor Mrs. Silver used to call it. It's a variety of brown-eyed Susan, and it comes back reliably every year. It's compact, and doesn't take over like the stuff in the square garden. It seems like this one likes the corner it's planted in, and it's been a steady pop of color for a couple of years now. 

I've seen this in borders before. I had some in the square garden, but we had a nasty winter and it did kill just about everything in that spot. 

Anyway, this is an easy one to grow, and all you have to do is leave it alone. The smaller birds eat the seeds you see in the seed heads, and whatever's left just re-seeds itself and comes up the next year. It'll bloom clear through till Fall and if the season is mild enough, it'll go till it snows. I've rarely seen this plant droop, where the bee balm, even though it's supposed to be a "native" plant? It gets a little touchy when the weather gets sticky. 

I have two milkweed plants, but they haven't bloomed. On the other hand, I've seen milkweed which has already bloomed for the year. I have no idea - perhaps it's one of those that takes a couple years to get established. I also have the seeds that my friend sent me from the UP. Those have to be planted around the first frost (this ought to be interesting, trying to figure that out), because the seeds have to be exposed to cold in order to establish themselves to bloom in the coming spring. 

Random Picture...

This is what I've been reading (among other things). The short stories are amazing. You get drawn in and you don't want to come out. You get a mental workout trying to figure out the twists and turns. And then they happen and you're surprised. 

Till you think a moment and realize -- "No, that was the genius plan she had all along." 

And then you want to take every word you've ever written and put a torch to it, because you know that even on your best day, you can't write what she tosses in the garbage. 

And then. Because you're a writer. You write. Again and again. And you keep trying. Because words matter. You realize that the only way you can make them matter more is to write more. Write more, write as a habit, write as a mission. Write like you read, write like you knit, write like you sing. Write like you mean it. Write like you breathe. 

Looks Like Prune Juice...

I mean my iron infusions. Seriously, they look like I'm ingesting prune juice via IV. And I actually LIKE prune juice. Especially warmed, with maybe a slice of lemon if I have it around. 

OK, so this isn't a great picture, but remember, one arm is tethered down with the IV set-up, and I'm balancing a camera which isn't set up to just touch the center of the picture to snap it. 

The OLD Windows phone allowed you to do that. Microsoft caved in and made you have to hit the "camera" icon and you have to hit it with a fingertip, not a fingerNAIL. Trust me on this one. 

Here's the IV set up. They're alternating arms, so next week I get to have my left arm skewered. This last time, I was actually in a room, not in the (very cold) common area. Still, I brought along the red knitted capelet I bought from WinterSilks. It was on clearance, otherwise I'd give y'all the link. 

It covered my neck and down to my elbows, which was just enough. As you can see, it's not likely that I'll be knitting during these infusions (drat), but I do get a fair bit of reading done. And if I chose to, I could probably drag my laptop along, but I don't want to do that. Too much crap to handle, and I don't want to risk it falling off the tiny table they give you. 

My entire professional life is on this laptop, and I don't want to be in danger of losing it. 

Copy Writing...

So. No word on the job yet. Stressed much? It hit me hard today, and I told BossLady in an e-mail. She's a peach. No, I mean it. She has just about given herself an ulcer trying to get me and The Assistant placed elsewhere in the university - preferably running the new site, though they can't seem to see that they need us there. 

Anyway, she e-mailed me back and said, "You know, you can just stop working on 12/12 - I will fill in."

And while it's tempting, my Better Self says to just suck it up and complete my job. Which is what I told her. I appreciated her offer, but she's insanely busy and I don't want to give her any more work. I can do this. I'm a big girl. 

But there are days when I really feel like I'm the statue and there are about 4 flocks of Canadian Geese flying overhead, fully loaded. It's just the way it is, lately.

Anyway, I have aligned myself with the American Writers Association, Inc., and will be taking a brush-up course on copy writing. I fancy myself a fairly good writer, and I believe I can be persuasive when I need to be. 

So I'm aiming to do web content and social media in a few specific areas that are appealing to me: alternative health, yoga, pets, public relations, and cooking. I have expertise in these areas, and I believe firmly that you write most passionately about that which you are passionate. 

For example, copywriters in the finance area make huge money. But I'm not good at that. Was my MBA a waste? Nope. My concentration(s) included HR and Marketing. I had to take the finance stuff, and I have a passing familiarity. But I'm not comfortable in that role. 

So. I will take about 3 months to finish the brush-up courses, build a portfolio and then launch myself back into the freelance world. I'm starting with folks I know, and I'll go from there. 

I write really good press releases, so I can at least offer my services there at the beginning. 

Knitting...

Speaking of knitting, I'm at about 13.5" on the blanket -- so, almost 50%!!! That's of the body - I still have to do the ruffle. 

Using math (don't be shocked), I think that if I can do 7 rows a day (not REPEATS, but rows) -- remember, it's cotton, so it's a bit of a stinker on the hands - I can get the body done in 10 days. Perhaps, with the holiday weekend, I can stick 7 rows at the beginning of the day and 7 at the end, speeding up the process, if my hands can take it. 

Then, likely 5 days to finish the ruffle, wash and block (I really want to block this thing) and mail it. 

There. Baby knitting DONE. I will still, of course, work on knitting from stash for the easy baby sweaters, booties and hats. But until I have grandKIDS and not grandCATS -- no more afghans. At least not in cotton!

The sock - I have it at work, but I was listening to a webinar and taking notes, and I was searching up invoices for various services at the campus. BossLady wanted to know about servicing the sprinklers, etc. 

So no sock knitting. I'll do my 7 rows today when I get home, and while the turkey is cooking. Maybe some sock knitting in the evening, watching Sherlock on BBC America unless there's a better movie on. 

Immigration...

One more time: It is NOT an amnesty program. It's deferred deportation. BIG difference. And really? Why is this an issue when Ike did it. Nixon did it. Ford did it. Both Bushs did it. Reagan did it. 

Hmmmmmmmmmm. One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong. 

Would it be the BLACK guy in the WHITE House?

Republicans need to back off and start governing for the PEOPLE - and I'm talking about the ones with lungs, brains and reproductive organs. Not the "people" of the corporate world. 

But hey... keep it up. Way to zap yourself back into oblivion. 

Soup...

Turkey is in the oven for Sunday's dinner. The relish is thawing. The potatoes will be done tomorrow a.m.

I had a lovely lunch. Ham sandwich on a pretzel bun, with homemade cream of broccoli soup. We had the broccoli and I had intended it as a side dish, but things got insanely crazy...So before we had to pitch it, this idea came to my head. Well, I searched for the recipe and found one that was so easy that Tippi could do it, if she had thumbs. 

It was really good the next day, after the flavors had a chance to sit for a while. I'm going to go get some tea shortly and knit on that blessed baby blanket. 

After I check the turkey. 

Random Picture...

My gorgeous Tippi. Last night, she heard something and I was able to catch this shot of her. Usually, you see her in some goofy outfit for her therapy work. 

When she came to us, she was a wraith. Scraggly coat; just had given birth a few months prior; ill-fed. And scared. But resigned. 

Scared + resigned is horrible to see in a lovely animal such as she is. 

But after she settled down, she found her place: as queen of the household! 

She's 7 years old and has a cataract. She's intelligent, goofy, loving and one of the best dogs I've had. 

My little heart-dog. 

Independence Day...

It's Independence Day here in the US. 

So people are practicing their independence by driving the rest of us nuts with fireworks!! 

I found this article, and it brings to mind the current divisiveness in our country as we struggle with a Congress that won't do anything because they're afraid of their corporate overlords, and a religious right that insists upon beating the rest of us over the head with "how the Founders conceived this Christian Nation."

Well. History has a weird way of biting you in the rear end if you spout facts that, patently, are not true. 

Here's what the Founders really said, and  this one is my favorite: 

35. “The legislature of the United States shall pass no law on the subject of religion.”
~Charles Pinckney, Constitutional Convention, 1787

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/04/35-founding-father-quotes-conservative-christians-will-hate/#ixzz2Y6utfCK0

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Makes you kind of want to whomp your head, doesn't it?

We are not now, nor have we EVER been a Christian nation. To assume otherwise is to show your own profound ignorance of your own country. Or bigotry to the "other" among us, forgetting that there's probably oh, maybe a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the actual US population who can really trace their ancestors back.

And you know who they trace them back to? British colonists. Who aren't even the true citizens of this country. 

I could go into the whole rant about the First Nations. But I won't. You can research it yourself. If you really want to educate yourself. I would hope that you do want to educate yourself.

In a fit of productivity, after getting groceries, I noticed my basil plant was going to seed. So I gave it a haircut and made some basil jelly. Also made some rosemary jelly, and I'm waiting to see if that sets up. Frankly, I'm not too sure the BASIL will set up properly, which will annoy me. The proportion of water/sugar/pectin was ok. I can't figure it out. The rosemary was a tad skimpy, so we shall see.

So, the uses? Basil jelly can be put on top of a cream cheese or a soft farmer's cheese and used with crackers. It can also be used in BBQ sauce for a different taste to those "crock pot meatballs" you see at parties everywhere.

As far as the rosemary, use it like mint jelly: with lamb or perhaps pork. Either way, savory jellies are kind of cool. And I have the herbs sprouting like crazy.

Maybe next week, it'll be dill jelly - that's coming along faster than the pickling cucumbers are!

Basil Jelly 2013

Here's the basil. Sitting on the bench on my porch. The bench that my great-grandpa, an immigrant from Poland, made. It's gotta be at least 100 years old. And it's still in very good shape. My mom handed it over to me, since she doesn't have a porch. I did buy some cushions for it, but I didn't want them in the picture. 

I will see how the rosemary is settling. I did tip the jars over because I put sprigs of rosemary into the jars and I wanted the sprigs to kind of be in the middle. It's not really working out that way, but that's ok. 

Note to self: need 1/2 pint jars!! And I have to do a better job of taking off the old labels. I had purchased some that were supposed to be "water soluble" but they haven't proven to be so. 

I hope to get some pickle relish made this year. I have the pickling cukes coming along nicely in the garden. And the tomatoes are s-l-o-w-l-y coming around. 

We're about to plant our second run of lettuce soon. And the carrots are very beautiful. I may do a carrot jelly this year. That could be fun. 

Chugging away on the Chandelier Lace scarf. I'm taking it easy, resting my hands, because I'm kind of fighting with the yarn and the needles. But that's ok. It's starting to look like something, and I'm really thinking I'm going to like it. 

Off to make another cup of tea, finish the repeat and check on my rosemary jelly.