There was a strange looking bird at the bird feeder yesterday morning. Two, in fact. A squirrel spent over 45 minutes heads down in the bird feeder, helping himself to the seed. A bit later, a chipmunk jumped up to join him. The feeder is not that far off the ground. The chipmunk needed 4-5 tries before he was able to grab hold of the side. Between the two of them they managed to eat about 3 inches of feed. And the entire time they were there, the birds couldn't eat. A few brave birds tried to startle them away, but the critters were too engrossed in gorging themselves. I haven't seen either one today. My guess is they are in a food coma somewhere.
My sourdough adventures continue. After killing my first batch of starter, my friend gifted me some of her discard. This batch happily thrived in my kitchen.
Part of it became a loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread. I baked this to go with Ed's birthday dinner. He didn't much care for it, but the rest of the family did. It was great as toast with some apricot preserves!
Last weekend I made sourdough crackers. These were a huge hit with the girls. I added herbs and Parmesan cheese to the dough and then sprinkled the top with paprika and sea salt. Kristin and I bought some goat cheese from Costco which went perfectly with these crackers. As good as these were, I think I'm going to tweak the recipe a little next time. First, I'm going to add more Parmesan to up the cheesy factor. Second, I'm going to sprinkle additional herbs to the top along with the paprika and sea salt. Third, I'm going to bake the center squares a bit longer. The end pieces were nice and crispy. The centers were firm and crisp, but just didn't quite have the crack for crackers.
The sourdough crackers used up every last bit of my starter, so I am now brewing a new batch. I won't be able to make anything with it for at least a week. Things are starting to open up here in Ohio and I think my card club is going to at least try to meet and share a drink or two. I hope to be able to make a batch of these crackers to take along with some goat cheese.
Stonecrop Top taught me a lesson in being too cocky. As I approached the last few rows, I realized two things. First, I didn't have enough yarn to knit the sleeve caps and second, I dropped two edge stitches way back at the start of the decrease rows. As much as I didn't want to rip back, I had no choice. I ripped back about 55 rows, placed everything back on the needles and walked away for a couple days. I didn't totally abandon the top during that time. Instead of knitting, I was on a desperate search for one more ball of the yarn. I had a difficult time since the colorway was discontinued and it had been about 3 years since I bought it. I found a shop in Long Island that listed one ball in stock. Unfortunately, the shop owner called to say that she thinks one of her staff must have used the ball for a sample and didn't update the inventory. After more searching, and changing how I ask Google a question, I located another shop, this time in Arizona, who claimed to have the colorway. After a few email exchanges, it was confirmed that they did have several of the color I needed. A quick swipe of the credit card and the new ball was in my hands within a couple days.
The knitting gods must have forgiven me. The new ball was the same dye lot!! What are the chances? There was 3 years and 2000 miles between the purchases. I have said many thank you's so as to keep them happy.
One positive of the state of the world right now is that I am not spending much on yarn and related items. I am only doing necessity purchases, like the ball for Stonecrop Top. And like this Namaste Crossbody bag from Jimmy Beans. It was on sale, in my color and highly recommended by my enabler. What can I say. I needed a treat.
This is why I needed a treat. I am once again in a walking boot. I don't remember when I had one last, but it was at least 5 years ago. What I thought was plantar fasciitis tuned out to be a torn plantar fascia. I have a 6 mm lateral tear in the plantar fascia of my left foot. I have to wear the boot for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks we'll see if the tear healed itself. If not, it is surgery. I would have the choice of either stem cell injections or a more invasive procedure to repair the tear and shave down a significant bone spur that the doc thinks caused the tear. I think I'm going to opt for the more aggressive option even though the recovery would be a few weeks longer. My biggest question is if the bone spur isn't removed, what is to prevent me from having another tear in the future? This time I was fortunate that the tear ran the length of the tendon. Whose to say that next time it doesn't tear across the width of the tendon and in the worst scenario, completely through.
Having the boot on my foot has it's pros and cons. One pro is that Ed is waiting on me a bit. A con is that it makes my left knee and hip ache. It feels like an extra 10 pounds on that leg. Trying to go up and down steps is difficult and sitting in a chair is uncomfortable. I'm too short to begin with to have my feet touch the ground. Having this extra weight just puts added stress on my joints.
This was going to be the weekend that we were packing up Kristin's things and moving her to Austin, Texas. As it turns out, she changed her mind and decided not to take the job at the dental practice down there. She had many reasons, none of which I will share here. I think she made the right decision, but now she needs to find another job. She and her cat are going to be living with us for a while until she becomes employed and gets herself established. Wish us luck and pray for peace. Her last long stint at home was in the summer of 2015. And she and we didn't have cats then. And those cats DO NOT get along. Don't take that the wrong way. I am very glad she is going to be closer to home. She may end up in Cincinnati, but that is a lot closer than Texas.
Over Memorial Day weekend Ed and I went out to Seneca Lake (Ohio, not New York) to spend the day with Trisha, Craig and Craig's parents at their campsite. It was a fun day with wonderful weather, good company and delicious food. It was good to get away and forget about being ordered to stay in our homes.
My Birds of the Feather shawl is nearing completion. I am in the last mohair section and only have the border section after that. No photos yet. Once it is done and blocked I'll do a photo shoot with it.
The City Limits sweater is slowly coming along. I have started the third color, which means I have completed 4 of the 11 color sections of the body. The increase rows are done and I have about another inch or so to go before I can move some of the stitches to holders for the sleeves.
The weekend is now here and I need to decide what I am going to do to celebrate. Week 13 of COVID Work From Home is over. Time for a glass of wine. Cheers!!
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