If you've been on social media, you may have seen all kinds of crap blowing up about "the city is in flames" and ... probably, it's not. I mean, honestly. A friend of mine took a picture. Because her feed was blowing up saying that the local library was "on fire." Clearly it is not. People are understandably nervous, but hysteria needs to be nipped in the bud. I'm planning on going to some of the protests. I'm going to hold a sign, wear a mask and stand 6 feet away from the nearest people. You want to flip me off and call me names? Oh, jeeze, grow up, but if you must, then go for it. Not gonna lose any sleep over it.
I'm done. I called out an acquaintance over something posted on social media and if they get irritated, not my problem. I called out a sibling, who told me, "get off the liberal bandwagon" and I said, "when you take off your white sheet."
I'm over it. I have tried to be nice about it but I think that time has passed. Verify what you see before you post it. It's not that hard.
Municipalities all over our area are posting, "Hey, all, we're responding to rumors...we have extra patrols out, and ask you to be vigilant but stop spreading rumors." (paraphrasing, but you get the idea).
Protesting is an American right and tradition. Looters and outside infiltrators are an invention by those in power to cast a blight on rightful protests. Don't be a loon. If you must post something, there are plenty of ways to verify it.
Knitting...
Well, I'm not sure if I posted this before, but here's the set-up of my new Amish swift and ballwinder. The ballwinder is a large-capacity one that can attach to our dining room table. Yeah, pardon the Xmas tablecloth...I need to change it. So the swift takes up more space than my umbrella, but it doesn't have a "nut" that can strip out. It's also quieter. The umbrella swift was rather loud.
I can still use the smaller ballwinder if I have yarn that's smaller quantity. The stuff that's being wound on this one is 550 yards; that would've been just about too much for the smaller ballwinder I have.
I got this from Stanwood Industries. I got the whole set up on sale for $79... Again, I don't get any $$$ from these things; I'm just telling you that my umbrella swift crapped out and this was something I'd been looking at. Bit the bullet on sale. I'm happy with it.
The Breathe & Hope has finally moved to Section 5, which is actually a repeat of Section 3. It's making more sense to me now and I'm quite pleased with it. The way the gradient in the contrast yarn moves, it sometimes looks like a stark change. But the base color, a beautiful shaded blue, is taming the flamingo pink. I'm looking forward to seeing it done. I have to say it's not a difficult pattern even with the colorwork. Casapinka did a good job on this. You can do it in subtle contrast, or really bold (I went with bold, Hubby picked the colors). I've seen nearly monochromatic combos and they do look nice too.
I think when I do the next one, I'll go up a size in needles. Just for fun.
I belong to several knitting pages on FB, and someone asked "what normal household item do you use as a knitting accessory?" Well. I don't use a "household item" unless you consider The Red Finger something you'd normally have in your junk drawer... Normally, it's turned the other way out, so the nubs help you with gripping - for page turning, money counting, etc. But I turned this inside-out and it fits my index finger. I can knit with my lace or more pointy needles and not skewer the "pusher" finger. I tried blister bandages, coban tape, surgery tape...nothing worked for long, and it got expensive to buy the pricey silicone bandages. This thing is sold at office supply stores and usually in boxes of 12. Which is cool. Put one in each project bag. Your finger will thank you. And it's cheaper than those leather thimbles (which never seem to fit me right anyway!).
Flowers, Bike Ride, Spices...
At my yoga studio, we have these 2 pots, and lately, since we've been closed, the folks who use the employment agency next door have taken to using them as butt bins. I wasn't having it. On top of which I usually plant flowers that are bee-friendly. On top of which, I despise smokers who can't keep their garbage under control. Smoking is YOUR habit; clean up after yourself. Don't make your garbage mine...
The plants are blooming in the pots nicely. I took a "neon marker" and posted a little thing on my windows.
This one is Alyssum. It's white and it's going to be a "draping" kind of plant. Mainly a ground cover, it works well in pots too. The one on the other side is mixed wild flowers.
We took our first bike ride of the season. In Dellwood Park. Which has hills. LOTS of hills. A couple of them, we just walked up because of all the rain; they'd washed out a bit and it was dangerous to try to ride a bike up the hill, even if we could have. This is me before the ride. After, I was quite grumpy. My A-fib is back. Not bad, but bad enough. I did have a hard time; but I have to admit that (a) it was my first bike ride in 2 years; (b) I have (ahem) some COVID weight on; and (c) Dellwood is crazy!!! We should have tried a more tame area, but we wanted to make sure we could "socially distance" if necessary.
We finally got our Penzey's spice delivery. Of course the dogs had to do their thing and make sure this box was ok to come into the house. And, I suspect, make sure it wasn't anything for them!
I ordered some extra vanilla beans; my vodka needs a little more oomph in it. When you make homemade vanilla, you do need to replenish the vanilla beans every few years. These were a pretty good price, and so I'll be splitting them and tossing them into the bottle. I did also buy some regular vanilla - organic, I mean. Because home-made takes a couple months to get to the strength you want. So my homemade stuff will be ready for Xmas baking and I can use the other stuff as I bake from now till then. It's been a while, so I think it's time for a recipe.
Roasted Garbanzo Beans...
1 large can Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper
3 T. olive oil
Penzey's Northwoods Blend
Penzey's Roasted Garlic
Italian Seasoning blend of your choice
Turmeric
Drain and rinse garbanzo beans. If you want, save the liquid from the beans; Aquafaba makes a great substitute for egg whites. After you run the beans under water, tip them out onto a tea towel. 
Pat dry, then roll them in the tea towel. Then, move them so they're in one layer and pick off all the "skins" that are loose. You can press them a little and roll them around on the towel a couple more times. See the paper napkin? Those skins are what you want to get rid of before you season them. In a small mixing bowl, add the oil and spices. Hint for the Italian Seasoning: Pour your amount into the palm of one hand, rub with the other over the bowl. Rubbing the spices in your hands helps release the oils and further crushes the leaves of the blend. Save salt & pepper till just before you roast.
**You can add ANY spices you want. Use your imagination and raid your spice cabinet! The quantity of spice is also up to you. I add a good couple of shakes; you can go as heavy or light as you want.
Whisk oil and spices and then toss in the beans. Use your hands; toss the beans to coat (and then pick off more of the "skins" -- you'll have more come off!). Layer the beans on a small rimmed baking sheet so that they're in one layer.
Add salt and pepper to the beans. Oven should be heated to 425F (220-ish C); pop the pan in and set the timer to 15 minutes. Check, stir the beans around. You'll notice some shrinkage and some browning. The time depends on the size of the beans; you may want to add another 8 -10 minutes on. You can also let them get a bit more brown.
Remove the pan from the oven and let them cool. Store in airtight container in the fridge. The combination of crunchy outside with silky/creamy inside? Ohhhhhhhhhhh. Yum!!
How to use them:
- I will eat these like peanuts!
- Great on salads
- Use as a garnish with rice/orzo/quinoa
- Add to tuna or egg salad for spice and texture
Random Picture...
It's like he's saying, "Eat already -- I want my turn!! The goldfinches are really having a blast with this feeder. Today, though, the birds have stayed away. I'm a bit sad about that. With all the other crap going on (I'm telling you - it's 10:36 pm and we're hearing a lot of sirens), I was really enjoying zoning out with the birds. I've also pretty much over-knitted my left hand, so the birds are a welcome distraction. I suppose I'd better get back to making masks, since our church is opening up again soon (to small groups, 10 or less). But the traffic at the feeding stations is a bit scant of one species: hummingbirds! I've only seen 2 of them. And I have 3 or 4 feeders! I think I may move the oriole feeder to the other bed; just so the big birds leave the little ones alone.
PS: We're still doing virtual yoga at the studio! Check our website:
and go to the upper left corner to "Livestream Yoga" -- $10 yoga classes!
Support a small, woman-owned business!
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