Making the Most of Monday

Knitting. Home made blueberry muffins. Coffee. Balcony. Flowers.

Making Monday, September 5th

... except that I am posting this on the 4th!

Well, I am all tuckered out. Number Guy has been away in the US for 10 days and will be home on a few hours :0) I have missed him, but I have been busy. I had lots of social things to do, which is great. I have also been doing a huge amount of tidying. So that is really what making Monday this week is about....Making Things Tidy.

It all started with my laundry room. It isn't finished yet, but much of Mount Laundry has been put away and some of the floor has been Dysoned (remember what that would have been 'Hoovered'?). Then I started on My Stash. I am not sure if I should have taken a 'before' picture, it was..ahem...bad. Here is most of the yarn that lived in the living room:




That is plain scary. There is still some other yarn in the living room and I haven't touched what is upstairs. I 'had' to throw out some Rowan Calmer because I found a dead wasp in the bag. Yep, I know it was dead but the way I feel about wasps meant I would not have been able to use the yarn. Silly, but there we have it. As i photographed the yarn and added it to my Ravelry Stash page, I also noted which box it is in, that way when I want a yarn, I don't have to rummage.

I also sorted out the cupboard near the front door. I am sure everyone has one like this- you know, the one where you open, shove something in, then close the door as quickly as possible before all the crap falls out. Well, I haven't got oone of those any more :0)

I also made a bag yesterday. I was in the middle of a migraine- the pain had abated but my mind was not functioning properly. I am unhappy with the result, so 'don't sew with migraine' has been added to my list of 'must-nots'. It was frustrating at one point because I could not understand the instructions. I am fairly certain they were not written in Swahili, but my mind just refused to co-operate. I am posting a picture here and when I make the next bag (which WILL be up to scratch) I will post where I got the pattern from. I don't think this attempt does it justice:




It looks good like that, but believe me when I say I took it from the best side. This bag involved two firsts: The first time I used the walking foot in my sewing machine. It was a bit tricky to begin with, as the fabric really gets yanked in, but for sewing through several layers of fabric it is great. The second first: I used my new crafting/reading specs. What a difference. I could actually do the hand sewing required without looking under the lenses. Even when I finally give in and get varifocals I am going to keep a pair of specs specially for crafting.

Right-o. Enough blethering on, I have a just a little more tidying to do before Number Guy gets home.

Making Monday

Today it is more about making time.


Making time for a new project Stripes to Keep Me Warm , the yarn shown in the picture below


Making time for a new book The Invisible Ones . I do believe I actually squealed out loud when I saw this book in the shop today. I loved The Tenderness of Wolves

I have also made Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup, but I don't have a picture of that.

Making Monday

joining in with Natalie's Making Mondays theme.
OK, technically, this was Making Sunday...but well, let's not be too pedantic.

This is the Banana and pecan cake from Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly: Recipes from Southern Appalachia . The recipe is actually for a layer cake with cream cheese frosting. I added some sultanas, chucked it into a larger and a small loaf tin, gave the smaller away to one of my neighbours. It is totally delicious and about to be wrapped in slices and frozen for those times when emergency tea-and-cake is required. Like ...around 4 o'clock of any given day.

The view from my window

I thought this was Bluebell, Daisy and Buttercup. Closer inspection revealed them to be Tom, Dick and Harry

Of things domestic

Nothing much happening around here at the moment. For which I am thankful :0)
We are pottering about and enjoying the weather. Yesterday we went to Zürich for lunch and happend to see this:



If you click this link you'll get a video. For some reason every year crazy people in Zürich jump in the Limmat River and float down it with a rubber duck :0)

Mundane news the first:

More yoghurt being made- this time I sweetened the batch and added vanilla. That should be really good.

Mundane news the second. Armed with The Bean Book, , the famous little number from Rose Elliot, I aim to to eat my way through the stock of oldish beans in the cellar. If you don't know, dried beans which are beyond their 'best before date' are fine to use. They just need longer cooking. LIke three hours longer...

Mundane news the third:I continue to wrestle a corner of the garden into submission, and actually planted an anemone (try saying that after a few) to celebrate.

See: mundane. But in a good way :0)

There has been sone good 'stuff'

Like these:

Fancy one with a cuppa?





Blueberry Muffins