Orange Meringue Pie

We have guests coming fr dinner and I decided I would do a 'make ahead' menu.
We are having nibbles to start with, including lupin seeds...yep, there is a variety that one can munch on. Then we are having boeuf bourguignon. I added a can of tomatoes which I put through my food mill first (this was an expensive piece of equipment but I use it a lot) because the sauce was basically a bottle of wine, which didn't seem right. OK, there are pancetta bits and onions and mushrooms, but only wine as the liquid may be authentic but I didn't like it. Also added some Worcester Sauce.

Orange Meringue Pie for dessert..... This may well be a 'deconstructed' pie because I am not sure that it has set...

Back on the horse

I have had an overlocker for more than a year but was too 'timid' to use it. When I finally remembered how to thread the thing (no mean feat, even withdiagrams/instructions), it wouldn't work properly. Turns out the solution was very simple....I needed to be more 'brutal' in putting the thread into the tension discs. Not only have I made five project bags....well, I do have rather a lot of knitting on the go at once, I made a fantastic pair of linen trousers. Well....they were fantastic eventually. You would not believe the number of basic errors that I made. The final error involved the hem. I was rather disheartened...lots of sewing hours, no wearable result. Then I had an idea...some rather lovely Amy Butler fabric was just right for some cuffs, which solved the problem. Solved it so well that some random stranger in Zürich complimented me on them :0)

Something a bit weightier than sewing has been on my mind of late. Friendship....or rather, the end thereof. When does one stop flogging a dead horse? How can one determine if said steed is dead? This isn't 'all about me'..well, it is, but I don't mean it in ' I am the most important person in the universe' kind of way. Other people have lives, sometimes very hectic ones. Sometimes they have much more important things to do than contact me. That's fine. I usually try to keep in touch anyway, keep the link open. But what happens when they are in touch with what seems to be the whole world and not me? At what point are they thinking,'FFS, Twelfthknit, can you not take a hint? YOu have emailed me/messaged me/etc and I.have.Not.Replied. TAKE A HINT!!' !! What do I do? Do I keep trying, keep sending messages? How do I know when there is a hint to be taken? I don't want to be friends with someone who wishes I would fuck off, on the other hand, I don't want to be a 'fairweather friend'. Sigh. At the moment I have taken a few people off my mental 'friends' list. It makes me sad, but I am getting to the point where I feel a right silly arse contacting them .

On a cheerier note, we ar off to Cyprus for a family wedding tomorrow (so why am I blogging and not packing, I ask myself).

Look closely...

...at the bottom left-hand side of this scarf and you will see 'I heart Z.' This fabulous scarf was knitted for me by my good friend
KEDKrafty as a special present when I moved to Switzerland. As soon as winter gets to be serious, out this scarf comes. It warms my neck and it warms my soul. It's great to have friends!

I've got a playdate- yay!!!

Ok, I'll try to be more grown up about it.

I've been wobbly today, quite unexpectedly, I dare say it's because of all that stress I was burbling about in the last post. But hey, I have coffee lined up already. One of the Spooglers answered my plea - you know the kind of thing - 'Help! I've left all my friends behind and I'm panicking!!!'

So a week on Thursday (OMG - A WEEK ON THURSDAY!) I'm going to meet a fellow Spoogler at Manor. Which also has a yarn dept! And no, it wasn't me who suggested it ;0)