[quilting] Back at it...

Last weekend I got back to quilting:

I was folding laundry on Sunday and found a long rip in a pair of Dollar's boxers- from waistband to leg opening. I don't even know how it happened but it was a nice, straight rip so I brought it to my sewing machine in the craft room and... chugga chugga chug- all sewed up. It was so easy, I decided to get out some pre-cut pieces of fabric and sew them into blocks...

It's been nearly a year since I've sewed any blocks. Thankfully, I had the foresight to pre-cut several different sized-squares and stack them up with a label to the directions in my book of blocks. All I did was lay the pieces out and start sewing, pressing, sewing, pressing, etc. No cutting, no thinking- just right to sewing. 

I have a few more pre-cut blocks ready to sew. I'll probably do those this weekend (maybe... I'm kinda very wicked sick right now) and then see what fabric is left. And cut pieces for more blocks.

[crochet] Scallop Tea Cosy- Blocking

The two sides of the tea cosy are done and blocking:

This crocodile stitch is a yarn-gobbler and I used up every last inch of my leftover Cascade Casablanca.

I soaked the halves and then pinned them out to be a bit wider in the middle (to fit better around the tea pot). All that is left to do is sew the halves together and leave openings for the handle and spout.

[vermont] Worthy Kitchen

After visiting the sugar house in Woodstock on Saturday, we went to Worthy Kitchen for lunch. We visit Worthy Burger frequently because we live so close but this was our first time to WK.

It did not disappoint. Many more food options that Worthy Burger. I got the fried chicken thigh sandwich- with buttermilk ranch and so many dill pickles (which is the perfect amount). On a scale of one to ten, it was a twelve.

Dollar got the bacon egg and cheese sandwich:

We also ordered some taco dry-rub wings that we didn't touch and had to bring home.

The pickled carrots that came with these were good.

Great lunch, would definitely stop here again when we're in the neighborhood.

[vermont] Maple Sugar Open House Weekend

Went to visit a sugar house in Woodstock on Saturday:

This was my first time visiting Bourdon Maple Farm. They have 10,000 taps and use quite sophisticated technology to track the pressure along miles of tubing. They put several sensors out in the sugarbush that can report wirelessly to a computer in the sugar house on what the pressure here and there is. If pressure is very low- they can target where to go and check the lines (to see if a squirrel chewed through it or something).

The sap comes in and run through a reverse osmosis machine- to separate out filtered water from water-soluble solids (sugar, minerals, etc). The "sap concentrate" is what moves on to be boiled while the water is a by-product (re-used, in this case, to flush the system in the opposite direction). I've seen reverse osmosis machines in other sugar house and while they seem like an expensive investment, for high-production sugarmakers, I assume it eventually pays for itself with time and fuel saved.

Boiling the sap:

Sweet steam. My grandfather had a sugar house when I was little and the smell seriously brings back memories.

When the percentage of sugar is correct, the syrup comes off the boiler:

And run through a diatomaceous earth filter before being bottled or poured into a barrel- to remove any remaining sediment from the syrup. This part was super cool to me- I had never heard of it before.

I loved visiting this sugar house- the family running this business was so nice. They also had good homemade cookies out for the Open House. I bought a gallon before we left and now I'm ready to maple syrup all the things.

[cooking] Bread and jam

Last weekend I made 2.5 pints of raspberry jam (at first I thought it was 5 pints but I was mistakenly counting half-pint jars as pints). With homemade bread:

Perfect. The other jars are squirreled away in the pantry. I picked the berries last summer at Lincoln Farm and they've been in the freezer ever since. This is an easy, pectin free recipe- just boil the berries and add sugar and reduce a bit. Sets up nicely.

TGIF. It's Vermont's Maple Open House Weekend, so I'm planning on visiting a sugar house in Woodstock tomorrow. Gonna stock up on some fresh maple syrup. And perhaps stop by Worthy Kitchen on the way back for lunch. The rest of the weekend will probably be laundry and cleaning and prepping for another week of teaching.

Santana's loose in the house. It's been nearly two weeks since her stroke- she's stronger and able to move around the house at 95% normal. Making sure she eats medicine is still a struggle but she's happy. We both slept back in the master bed last night- her by my head like old times. Penny's glad to have me back, too- so she can sleep between my legs or get under the covers.

Maybe I'll be able to finish some projects this weekend- the shawl, the tea cosy (I've misplaced one half of the cosy... I'll need to find that). I'm ready to join the sleeves the main body of the sweater. Work some more on the vanilla socks... and make a vanilla recipe...

[crochet] New Tea Pot Cosy

I started a new crocheted tea pot cosy:

The yarn is Cascade Casablanca and leftover from this mermaid tears bag. Not sure I have enough yarn to make it as long as I want (this crocodile stitch is a yarn-gobbler). 

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Things have been pretty chill this week. Still keeping close watch on Santana and spending time with her. I started a plain pair of socks to work on while I follow her around the house. I've made a lot of progress on my Starfall sweater. I'm not sure how I feel about the border I'm adding to the Rumpelstiltskin shawl (I ran out of the main color- I'm using leftover worsted weight wool in a few colors for a striped border). Lots of different projects going right now.

I did a St. Patrick's Day meal on Sunday- corned beef, colcannon (with dandelion greens) and a loaf of no knead bread (rather than Irish soda bread). Since I make yogurt every weekend and strain the whey, I've been using it instead of water for my no knead dough. The whey has also been working well in place of milk in muffin recipes. Maybe I'll use it for scones, next.

[cooking] Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

I ordered some vanilla beans to make homemade extract. One of the beans I used to cook with, the rest (14 beans) went into a 1 quart mason jar of 40 proof vodka.

With the one bean, I wanted to make panna cotta. It's pretty easy- I adapted the recipe from here:

1 can full fat coconut milk

4 tablespoons maple syrup

1 vanilla bean

1 packet Knox gelatin powder

1 tablespoon water

Dissolve the gelatin powder in the water (try to use a shallow dish to get the powder to dissolve evenly).

Warm the coconut milk over med-low heat with the vanilla bean. Add the maple syrup (I used a bourbon barrel aged maple syrup from Wood's) and warm well but don't boil. Take out the vanilla bean, split lengthwise, use the tip of the knife to scrape down the seeds inside of each half. Mix the seeds into the milk and add the gelatin- stirring to dissolve completely (do not boil- very high temps will prevent the gelatin from ever setting properly). Grease 4 ramekins with coconut oil or some other no-flavor oil. Pour in the milk and let set in the fridge for several hours.

The bigger black bits are clumps of beans. I probably could have found a way to distribute the beans more evenly.

When it was ready, I loosened the edge with a knife and kind of had to plop the panna cotta into my hand and then place it on a plate.

Easy, fast, delicious. What's not to like about coconut milk, vanilla bean and bourbon maple syrup? Nothing! This isn't vegan but could easily be if you used a vegan gelatin.

All the beans:

This is the first time I've ever handled vanilla beans. It was interesting and I liked it. They definitely were a special splurge item but I'll be making 32 oz of extract for the price of the beans ($35). Commercial vanilla extract is currently selling at $90 for 16 oz. I'll be making twice as much (at potentially twice the strength- I think I used a lot of beans) for roughly 1/3 the price. Little bottles would make a nice Christmas gift, if it turns out well.

[misc] Santana Monday

Santana had a stroke 8 days ago. She's much better now- at home, living in her own private studio apartment (the spare room).

I woke up last Sunday morning to her tumbling off the bed and down the three step stairs we have next to the bed. She wasn't walking right- her hind legs weren't functioning normally. This was at about 6 am and I called the emergency number for the vet. We brought her down and the vet had good news- Santana has feelings in her hind legs. But she likely has a blood clot in her brain. We got prescriptions for her (blood pressure, blood thinner, baby aspirin) and brought her home. 

She fell a few more times at home- she wanted to move quickly but her hind legs weren't responding as normal. I went the spare room- broken down the bed frame, removed the box spring and put the mattress directly on the floor. And covered the rest of the floor with pillows and blankets. I got a space heater, set up a food station and a litterbox area. The plan is to keep her in the room- where she can be unsupervised and wouldn't hurt herself from a fall.

Here she on the second night after the stroke:

I think her left eye is off- not really looking in the same direction as her right. She was confused- maybe about her body not acting right and probably wondering why the room looked different and why she was being kept there.

To top it off, it was an incredibly busy week at work- our teaching season has started and I leave the house at 6:15 am and return at 7 pm. When I got home, I just went to Santana's room to hang out with her. I've been sleeping in there since, as well. Her room is the warmest and comfiest in the house now. But she needs company and I want to see her improvement.

Days go by, she getting better and better:

Since the very first night, she was able to get into the litterbox, use it and get out without falling. We're having a tough time pilling her. She's getting stronger and fighting back more. I need to consider that I want her to be happy and relaxed- not terrified of having a pill poked down her throat every time I walk in the room- especially if she has to be on this medicine the rest of her life. But we also want her to eat her medicine. We're trying to find the wet food or liquid or treat that she will eat ALL OF with a pill ground up in it.

All these pictures are of her laying down but she is walking well. We've let her out of the room a few times- she goes down the stairs just fine, eats some food from the other cats' bowls, wanders around but eventually goes back up to her room- and I shut the door. She naps, mostly. It's a safe space- when she came out on her own the first time, Murderface hissed at her and Penny hit her. So she has to have her own place where she's safe from the stress of being around the other cats.

Santana Banana is 16 years old. Lost all her canine teeth. Has renal disease (and is on medicine for that, as well). Now this stroke. I'm glad she has bounced back but we are starting to think about what's best for her in terms of quality of life and happiness. She's still happy- she purrs and licks/kisses me. She's playing a bit. She still has all her functions. We're not at the point where we have to make any hard decisions- and I seriously hope we're still years away from that- but this whole experience has been a wake up call.

[knitting] Bed Socks

The weather here has been frigid for days on end. Wool bedsocks have become the norm:

Penny pawing at my shoulder at 3 am, to get under the covers, has also become the norm. 

TGIF. We're going to see Captain Marvel this weekend. I splurged on some vanilla beans, which should be arriving tomorrow. I plan to start some homemade vanilla extract since the current price of vanilla extract is exorbitant. Any maybe make something with really vanilla beans, which I've never tried in my life.

[misc] Murderface Thursday

Someone barfed all over the bed while we were at work yesterday. 

He knows what he did.

I had to wash my quilt, Dollar's quilt, sheets and pillowcases. Sigh. All this on top of vacuuming the entire house before band members arrive (they spend the entire time in the basement and wouldn't see 90% of what I was vacuuming but I didn't do it over the weekend and I wanted to for my own peace of mind) and washing all the dishes. And I was trying to find a place to store the Instant Pot, so it's not taking up space on the counter all the time and I ended up pulling everything out of the bottom of the pantry closet (like you do, once you get going cleaning something) and... it was an ordeal.

But as I got into bed last night, into fresh warm sheets, under a clean, fluffy quilt, I looked over at Penny (sitting by my head, waiting for treats) and whispered, "I'm kind of glad Murderface puked. Everything is so nice and clean now. ... But he sure as shit isn't getting breakfast in bed anymore."

[cooking] Mardis Gras Pizza

Yesterday was Mardis Gras, so I made pizza...

Green peppers, purple onions, yellow cheese. (And sausage.) Green, purple and yellow makes it 'Mardis Gras', right?

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Band practice at the house tonight, so I'll be working on the afghan in the craft room and listening to podcasts. I've been neglecting my Starfall sweater, so maybe I'll try to get the main body going on that before everyone arrives. 

I kind of need to clean and do dishes and make the house presentable first, though.

[puzzle] The Dream of Surrealism

The puzzle that I finished last week:

I follow the artist, Brecht Vandenbroucke, on Instagram and I love his style. When I saw he designed a puzzle, I had to get it. 

It was so addicting to work on. The Surrealist references are funny. The inside of the box even includes extra information about the artist/piece and how it influenced the movement:

I actually ordered two of this puzzle on accident. I'm giving the other to my sister. But who knows if it really was an "accident" or if my subconscious wanted an extra one for my sister. 

It was very relaxing to work on. As I sat at the table working on it, Dollar commented on how fast I was putting it together. I could only up at at him through sleepy eyes and say, "It makes mah brain feel good."

I can't do any more puzzles, though. As much fun as it was- it really ate into my knitting time.

By the way- I saw Short Poppies on Amazon Prime Video over the weekend. Hi-lar-i-ous. Rhys Darby is amazing and there are several great cameos.

[misc] Murderface Monday

Murderface with his big 'ol catnip sack:

Had a good weekend. Friday afternoon I visited the grand opening of a new yarn store in Norwich, VT (Norwich Knits). The back room is devoted to Vermont yarn/fiber/farms and there are a few places to sit and knit. The shop will have classes and weekly knit nights.

The front room has commercial yarn brands- Manos del Uruguay, Noro, Mirasol, Rowan... Some of the stock is recognizable as Northern Nights' previous stock. In terms of needles- I only saw Clover, which I can get at big box craft stores with a coupon. I'd like to see Knitters Pride needles offered- they are affordable and there are many different wool/metal/acrylic options.

Saturday morning I brought Penny to the vet for her annual exam. The rest of the weekend was busy but I feel like I don't have a lot to show for it. I got a puzzle in the mail last Wednesday that consumed me until I finished it Saturday morning. Once that was done, I could get back to knitting and crocheting.

I crocheted a couple more rounds on the afghan. I finished the 2nd ball of yarn for the shawl and started the 3rd ball. Nothing too exciting to show there. I had every intention of warping up the Kromski Harp loom to weave a window covering (and even watched YouTube videos to refresh my memory on how to warp) but... I didn't.

Sunday was a busy cooking day. Yogurt in the Instant Pot. Pork shoulder in the slow cooker. Bread from the no-knead bucket. Chocolate chip blondies. Tuna fish and white bean salad. Basically meal prep for the week.

We watched The Kirilian Frequency on Netflix- it's just five 10-minute short animated stories. We've been trying to find Lovecraftian movies/shows and this series was perfect. If you like the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, you'll looooove this. I was pretty sad there weren't more episodes.

[cooking] Homemade yogurt

I've started making my own yogurt at home with the Instant Pot:

It's easy- it just takes a while. I get a half gallon of whole milk and pour it into the IP bowl and put the cover on (vent open). I select the yogurt button until it says 'boil'. Let it come to a boil. Take the cover off and the bowl out and let it sit on the counter to cool until it's between 100 F and 115 F. I use a thermometer to check and then use the tip to lift off the milk skin that forms on the surface when it's ready. I take a couple tablespoons of the warm milk and mix it in a bowl with yogurt (leftover from the previous week- you need the cultures to make more yogurt) and then mix that into the pot of milk.

Put the cover back on, press the yogurt button and set for 8 hours. It's thicker than milk when it's done but too runny for my liking. I set a cheese cloth in a colander and put that over a bowl (see above) and leave it in the fridge overnight. 

The next morning:

So thick it falls away cleanly from the cloth:

I love this cheese cloth, by the way. It came with a tofu press that I bought (with the plan of making homemade ricotta and pressing it into paneer)- it's nice and hemmed and reusable. I machine wash/dry it, which I love rather than having to throw away cheese cloth. 

The yogurt and whey:

I've been using the whey in place of water when I mix up a bucket of no-knead dough.

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TGIF. Penny has a vet appointment tomorrow morning. Other than that, I'm making a list of all the crafty stuff I need to do- the wall hanging/curtain for my office window, some hanging pouches to hold dry erase markers, make some more progress on the sweater...