Altivo Overo's Blog, page 10

Making socks a different way

I've been busy making socks. Why not just buy them? Because when I make my own I get what I want, not what mass producers want to sell. For instance, I wanted some nice heavy and warm socks to wear inside my rubber work boots for barn stuff in winter.

( Sock knitting details under cut )

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Milestone

Last July I finally gave in and went to the doctor to ask for help with my blood pressure, which I knew had been too high for some time. Given that several close relatives eventually died of stroke or aneurysm, this seemed like a wise thing to do. I was relieved to learn that my situation is not unusual, age wise, and in fact responded quickly to some increased daily exercise and a mild generic drug taken daily. My readings have been back to "normal" range since some time in August.

At that time I also committed myself to losing some weight, as I have gradually gained quite a lot over the last few years. My goal was to lose at least 50 pounds over a year's time, and continue to lose slowly after that. I've been lucky in that I found it pretty easy to start dropping pounds just by eliminating between meal snacks and adjusting portion sizes. No great privation has been necessary. Keeping track of everything I eat and actually seeing the calories, fats, sugars, etc. add up each day has been enlightening. I thought I knew what I was eating and the nutritional significance and on the whole I was right, but I had failed to realize how seemingly small things can add up quickly.

In any case, I am so far on track to reach that 50 pound weight loss goal by the one year mark. As of today, I am down 27 pounds from where I started. The difference is perhaps not too obvious in appearances, but in terms of how I feel, how well I sleep, and how much energy I have it is already pretty significant. My sister-in-law, who is a nurse practitioner, advises me that it is much better to lose weight gradually than to go on crash diets to drop a lot of it quickly. I find that pretty reassuring.

Fortunately, we don't indulge in fast food restaurants or packaged convenience foods much. Whenever we do, I am reminded quickly of how dismal these can be for one's health. The amount of sodium in a single fast food meal can easily account for a full day's recommended allotment. Sodium (much of it from salt) has a rapid affect on blood pressure and other health issues, including weight gain due to water retention.

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Day of the Rock

Today is the Day of the Rock, an archaic term for the first day of ordinary time after the Christmas holiday of 12 days' length. "Rock" in this case being an old word used to refer to a spindle, the primitive tool used for spinning wool or linen into thread that can be woven or knitted into garments. Some of you may recall a puzzling song lyric: "I sold my rock, I sold my reel, I sold my only spinning wheel..." which in fact uses the word in that context.

In more generic terms, today is the first day on which ordinary household tasks, such as spinning, weaving, sewing, and laundry, are resumed after the Christmas break.

So. Did I do any spinning today? Alas, no, my spinning wheels (3 of them) and my spindles (many) remained idle. However, I did do some knitting and may get some more done before going to bed. We cooked and washed dishes and cared for our animals too, but those things never stop for any holiday. Well, neither does knitting.

We did celebrate the Day of the Rock by going to two stores that were having yarn sales, though. We bought nothing at Michael's, but did get some yarn and tools at Joann Fabrics. I have at least three knitting projects going at the moment and I'm buying more yarn? It was a "bargain." But I'll be honest, it's also a kind of addiction. At least it's not harmful to one's health. I have other addictions too: reading, buying books, a lifelong attraction and attachment to animals of all sorts, playing keyboard instruments (sometimes badly) and so forth. Love me, love my flaws I guess. Fortunately my husband shares many of these to some degree, so we have few problems with it.

As I type this, one of those animals is snuggled up with me on the sofa. Yes, even though I yelled at him yesterday for eating my mittens. I shouldn't have left them within his reach, of course, even though he has rarely done anything like that in the nine or so months he has been with us. He sheds fur, drools water on the floor, and barks too much; but Laddie is a first class cuddler and that gets him a pass on most of his flaws.

Happy Day of the Rock to one and all.

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Still cold, so baking bread

This may seem irrational gibberish to readers who don't cook. But when it is bitter cold outside and chilly inside, baking bread and simmering soup always seems to make it warmer. Plus you get a good supper from it.

Actually, no soup today. But I did make a new kind of bread. We have many, many shelves full of cookbooks. Most of them have been skimmed more than once, but certainly also most of those recipes have never been prepared here. Triggered by some bananas that were past their prime, I went in search of a yeast bread into which I could put bananas. No difficulty finding many such recipes, but most of them were overly sweetened and had raisins or other fruit added. I was hoping for something lighter and eventually I found it.

( Banana and Aniseed Bread, recipe under cut )

We had the bread with our dinner salads and pronounced it a keeper. I'm eager to see how well it works as toast.

Somewhat colder today than yesterday. I went out to clean stalls and make up hay nets at about 2 pm, and had to interrupt that work after 30 minutes to come in and get warm again. Despite heavy mittens, my fingers were getting frostbitten. The temperature was about 13°F but the wind chill was probably below zero. I made tea and got warm, then went out to finish. That took another 45 minutes or so, plus the time to put the horses into their stalls and give them supper. Came back inside with painful fingertips and ears again, and that time I had switched to leather mittens lined with fleece and had a knit cap on over my ears. Woodstove is going again, after I cleaned out the ashes and got it started. Feels much better now.

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It's cold

Even with the extra insulation, new roof, and modernized geothermal furnace, the house is too chilly for me. Thank Epona there are woodstoves and we have wood. I know, it's adding pollutants to the atmosphere. *shrinks in shame, but isn't shivering*

Experimenting with knitting on a frame (also called a "jenny" or a "rake" or a knitting board.) This because husband Gary asked for a sock knitting frame for Christmas and I got it for him. He has tried conventional knitting but didn't persist long enough to overcome the initial lack of coordination that plagues most beginners. I had doubts that the sock loom would solve that, especially since it is designed for fine yarn and lots of stitches per row. However, when I started him on a larger plastic hoop frame with heavier yarn he took right off and has about two feet of a scarf completed. I gave him several instructional books with patterns and he's already talking about afghans. Consequently I figure I'd better brush up on my own knowledge of the process.

Since I've knitted in the traditional way with needles for more than 50 years, the frame seems slow and clumsy. It also lacks flexibility as to gauge and size. But it does work and I see it is possible to do a lot more with it than I had expected. So, socks are underway and we'll see. In spare minutes here and there I can usually finish a pair of socks in a week or so. This first set may take somewhat longer.

In other news, it's cold. Oh wait, I said that already. At least we could see the sun today and it definitely stayed around later before we were plunged into icy darkness.

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So, 2017

Here it is, the second day of a new year. To all of you who have either newly arrived on DW or are now reawakening dormant accounts you made here at some time in the past, a warm welcoming whinny. It's good to see you here, though I'm sorry it took an earthquake in LJ management to bring you. Make yourselves comfortable. You'll find that DW management is much more like the old LJ we remember from long ago, and in many ways superior even to that.

The horses are tiptoeing about on crunchy ice outside, a remnant of snow accumulated and then melted before Christmas. Today's forecast is fog with possible rain showers, but the thermometer is to plunge again below freezing later in the week. Dismal winter. But at least the days are getting longer already, and noticeably so.

Husband is making pea soup from the leftovers of the Christmas ham: it smells good already and even though the fridge is still stuffed with other leftover tasty things. Unfortunately, I'm still dieting for the foreseeable future, so it takes a while to eat all this stuff up.

As a new year's day project I sorted through the many ephemera that were stuck to the refrigerator door by so many refrigerator magnets that it's a wonder the neighbors' refrigerators haven't been sucked into our kitchen by the force field. Old recipes, newspaper clippings, takeout menus from restaurants that have since gone out of business. It was quite a time capsule. The magnets are still there; the flapping bits of yellowed paper are gone. And yes, there is still enameled metal under there and not even rusty.

So, in honor of the new emigration from LJ, I am doing my own small part to dust things off and post more. I won't call it a resolution because we all know those are doomed to failure.

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Lasagna Mexicana

Or if you insist, "Taco Lasagna." The idea of this arrived via rebelsheart several weeks ago. After he reported that his version seemed to be OK but not spectacular, I took up the challenge. I let it simmer in my head for a while before getting around to the actual experiment.

Here is the result:



( Recipe under cut )

Note that I use individual spices rather than prepared chili powder, both because I find it gives better flavor and aroma and because the prepared powder is usually half salt. That's sodium none of us needs.

The result was quite tasty and we rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars. It has some heat, but not the fire of real authentic Mexican dishes. That can be adjusted to your taste of course. As I made it, several of our less adventurous friends would have found it "too hot to eat."

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Feral Chickens

Some may have seen me talking about this on Twitter during the summer.

Last May two stray hens (no idea where they came from) started laying eggs in one of our barns. One of them had nested in stacked hay bales, the other on the flat top of a tack room (enclosed closet) about 8 feet above the floor. Both eventually sat on eggs for about 8 weeks without hatching any, and we removed the potential stink bomb eggs and figured that was that.

( General birdbrain meanderings )

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New publication

I'm pleased to announce that my story, "Harvest Home," appears in the new anthology Fragments of Life's Heart which is now available from Amazon, Smashwords, Weasel Press, and Rabbit Valley.

I have been writing about my two characters Argos the wolf and Fennec the fox for several years now, but mostly in longer works that have yet to see print. "Harvest Home" is set near the ends of their lives and will actually be their first appearance in a print format.

This collection of short stories by furry authors has been in the works for more than a year, and editors Laura "Munchkin" Lewis and Stefano "Mando" Zocchi have done a masterful job of pulling it all together. The book is available in both traditional print and e-book formats (Kindle/mobi or epub.)

Quite a few more illustrious writers have contributed to the anthology, and you can see the list of contents at any of the links I've supplied above. If you read furry literature, I'm sure you will enjoy this.

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No longer dogless

The house has been empty and quiet since Red left us last November. I keep forgetting he's gone, and saving treats for him and expecting him when I come in from outside. I've been watching the pet adoption sites for weeks. Finally, "Laddie" showed up. He's been featured in the county newspaper every day for at least a week, with no takers. Picked up as a stray, no ID, in Ohio. Rescued from a kill shelter there and brought to Helping Paws here. Today we went to meet him, and I'm sorry he had to wait since New Years because I would have chosen him much sooner had I known. Five years old is his estimated age, and the shelter people think he's a rough collie mix but I think border collie and husky. He's shaggy and cheerful, but not barky. Energetic and really friendly. It was love at first sight and I felt bad about having to leave him in the kennel there overnight but that's the standard policy. They checked our references (mainly our vet) and called after closing time to say we're approved and he can come home with us tomorrow. Here are his photos from the adoption page.





Now to declutter the house, find a doggie bed for him, and pick some toys out of the toy box to welcome him home.

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