bee creative

rainy day projects

It would have been 100% local except the pasta came from Italy...

Orecchiettte is my favorite shape of pasta and I haven't figured out how to make it.  I'll just say I'm honoring my great-grandmothers.  One who was from Italy and Nana who made it with the sharpest cheese she could find (as my mother remembers).  Nine year old cheese is pretty sharp (I used just a pinch of that cheese, the rest a bit milder). 

For something new, I tried a different way of cooking broccoli.  I cut it in bite sized pieces, drizzled hazelnut oil over it and roasted it in the oven until it was tender.  About half way through I tossed in a handful of hazelnuts.  Worth repeating. 

And...

I figured out what to do with some of my yarn.  The cone is silk and the other cotton.   A narrow scarf would be nice for summer, especially if it never stops raining.  

recycle day: a bit of this and that

I collect these...little scraps of fabric, two or three inch pieces of yarn, a thread or two or more, a tiny bit of roving. 

I love the yarn that can be made with it...

Cut up into little pieces, laid on top of some roving, carded and then spun into yarn.

And then knit.

Kaite has suggested a knit along (which has been named knitted minestrone) to make blankets consisting of yarn ends.  My problem is that I really don't have shorter pieces.  I had originally thought to just use up what I had.  Larger lengths of yarn that would make wider blocks...

Now I'm thinking that I'll save these larger lengths of yarn to make a blanket of granny squares and knit a blanket of  hand spun scrappy yarn.  It's not quite yarn ends, but maybe?  I do think the best soups have lots of seasoning. 

 

things I gathered today

First potato.

The rest of today's harvest.  All eaten for dinner.  There is ice cream for desert. 

Briar models the cowl I just finished.  It's a linen/wool blend.  Lovely yarn, I can't remember what brand and lost the label. 

Briar:  "Why does she do this to me?"

Swatching to test color combinations.  This is yarn I spun using local roving and some mohair yarn that is local/hand dyed and spun.  This is how I'm going to make my next sweater.  It will take me forever...

This was my first try at combining yarns.  It's Cascade 220 and the mohair.  It would be much faster to make a sweater this way.  And it is pretty, but I like the other better. 

dawn celebration

Yesterday morning I was out taking pictures in the garden at dawn...

(I haven't knitted this for the sky scarf yet.  Today marks 10 months of knitting a row in honor of each day.)

There is a song "Within the Rose," (which I discovered here) that is so completely stuck in my head right now.   "You'll find me in the morning, hidden within the rose..." 

 

Last night I went to hear Terry Tempest Williams read from her book, When Women were Birds, Fifty-four Variations on Voice.  (Here's a link where you can hear the first chapter.)  It's the first time I've gone to hear a writer read from a book they've written.  I will never be able to read her books again without hearing her voice, that was the greatest gift of hearing her read. 

My co-workers and friends that came to hear her with me kept thinking about the phrases that stuck in their head.  The one that has stayed with me comes from reading the book, a paragraph where she speaks of dawn and dusk and birds and reminds us to remember "that the world was meant to be celebrated." 

The birds will sing and we can too...

recycle day: continuing

This isn't so much about recycling but rather about not being so quick to dispose of something.

I use this mug for scooping dog food.  Yesterday I dropped it and broke the handle.

I decided that even without a handle it's still useful as a dog food scoop and so I will continue to use it.... 

 

 

rainy weekend

Lots of rain means the garden is growing very quickly...  I haven't managed to keep up with the weeds or the grass.

But I did pick the first few strawberries.

And stayed inside where it was dry to do some mending and patching.

And some experimenting.  I decided to try out the preserved lemons I started a couple weeks ago.  Pasta, asparagus, Parmesan, a bit of the lemon and a sprinkle of ground almonds.  It was good but next time, a little less lemon....

living in the moment

recycle day: the lost earring

Post style earrings make great tacks on cork boards...

A good solution for something to do with one earring. 

Or one that is a bit too glitzy to actually wear...

No adaptations needed.  Just poke it right into the cork board. 

continued

The bread is fantastic.  What intrigued me about the recipe is that it uses beer and vinegar.  The recipe is from Homemade by Yvette van Boven.  I made this one with local whole wheat flour.

The leggings are dappled, as expected.  The vat I used to dye them with was really too small.  The jacket I dyed turned out more consistent in color but also picked up less color.  Also expected. 

Sewing project for the day.  I finally hemmed the brown shirt I made a month or so ago.  I've come to the conclusion that I really like hemming by hand.  I think it turns out better. 

I also cut the grass... It's still a jungle out there. 

how a day might pass...

7 AM

I splurged on California apricots.  My general rule is that if I can get something locally I need to wait until they are in season.  This was so worth breaking that rule...

I roasted the apricots with a bit of butter and ate them with granola, yogurt and honey.

8:35

Spinning yarn for the sky scarf.  Lots and lots of gray.

Noon:

Back from the co-op and the farmer's market.  Used the last of my leftover lentils, a grated zucchini, some falafel mix, and an egg white for lentil cakes.  Thought about the first time I tried making falafel.  They were dry and bland.  These were oh so good with a dressing made from yogurt and mint. 

3:00 PM

I have a three hour rule.  I only prune, weed, dig in the garden for three hours at a time.  This keeps the sore muscles under control.  I also don't use the sewing machine after 3 PM.  When I do I tend to do silly things like sew a sleeve to the neckline instead of the arm hole... 

4:00 PM

I pulled a few things out of the washing machine and dipped them into the indigo vat.  I'll wash these out tonight and see how dark they turn out.  Neither of these were white when they went into the indigo vat.

The rest of the laundry is hanging on the line.  

5:40 PM

Trying out a new (to me) no knead bread dough recipe while I wait for dinner to cook.

To be continued...