Rye Bread story continues

I made the bread last weekend, and it was not bad at all.  The taste was better the next day.

Today I decided to make some more, since I have only some small pieces left.

Found a nice recipe in this blog, She has explained the method very clearly, even I can understand
and follow it.  The recipe is in Finnish, though, but my translation skills are not developed enough to do it here.

BTW, here is a picture of my test bread:

And then I made more after the test ones.  I still have two small ones in the freezer for lunch tomorrow.

And here is our beautiful Merlin

Back to knitting, Chau!

Rye Bread

I decided to tell you about my favorite foods, from way back when.  When = when in Finland.
First thing I must have is rye bread and home-made cheese, with butter milk.  Yes, I am slightly
strange, but that's me.  Fortunately you can now buy that cheese in the grocery stores over there,
and I don't even warm it up, I eat it while the wrapping is on...yes, I open it little bit first.

The bread has to be the one with a hole in the middle, that's the best.  Well, at least on top of the list.  Buttermilk?  It's much better than what I can buy here.  Maybe the process is different, who knows, but it tastes so good, I could drink one liter just like that, with bread and cheese.

A cousin of mine told me about making rye bread without the root, and of course I was immediately interested.  I found the place and here it is (in Finnish, though, but the translation is
pretty good).
There is also a Pulled Pork recipe, which looks delicious.  I might try that one, too, one of these
days.

I also found some "homemade" - like cheese, Spanish fresh cheese, and also some other, but forgot the name of it.  Also, in some Italian grocery stores you can find Fesh Cheese, but I prefer the Spanish one.

I took a picture of the rye bread dough, with my phone camera.

I tell you about my knitting.  I made a cowl for myself, which I will not wear unless the temperature outside is -20 or colder. The cowl, though is quite pretty, so I might use
it for five minutes in a warmer weather, just to show off.

I've also made some snowflakes.  They are not your normal flakes, mine have colours.

After the snowflakes, I went back to my attempt to make a wide wrap with cables.  Not sure if

    I finish it before the spring (it's for winter), but I will try.

Doodling done, finally, it's been a while. 

And then the test bread.  The dough is still
rising, but I could not wait for to taste.  Not bad
at all.

Keep going Girl!

First some whining,

back pain for over a week.  Have done too much lifting things, as in bags of yarn, boxes of yarn,
just yarn. Let me explain, I have a stash room (second bedroom) full of stuff, mostly yarn, in boxes, plastic tubs, and bags.  Decided to organize *organize*,  me?  Good grief!
Well, I did some, and now the back is screaming. Tylenol 3 snubbed, Arthritis Tylenol laughed, standing and leaning against the table helped after half an hour.  Sleep is great, no problem.

Should I just sleep?  NO, I must check the e-mail, check the Facebook, oh, and go to work.  Work
might have something to do with some pain to a degree.  Sitting all day, working on a keyboard, trying to get the correct information into the record archives, inside the data files.  That's hard work, and will cause discomfort sometimes.  However, I do love my work, and have always enjoyed going to the office.  Occasional getting up to go and fetch coffee or lunch, or water,
is a good thing.

Oh, I was not going to talk about work.  Back to whining.  No cork needed, since my whining has nothing to do with wine.

This is my solution for the problem, Aleve, which may cause tummy pains, but which is worse?

I realized something this morning, why is my back not in pain when I am in bed?  I have a padding with magnetic buttons inside.  Well, yeaah, sure.  This morning I took one Aleve, found another of those paddings in the linen closet.  Put it on my chair and what, I am practically pain free, unless I get up.  Is it Aleve or the padding with magnets?  Don't know, but I am going sit here all day, even
if I don't have the witch powers to move things around with the wiggle of my nose (I can't do it anyway, even if I was a witch, which I might have been in my previous life, which is another story).

On the reality side (whining isn't my daily topic):

What's up?  The Knitting goddess has been my friend for a good part of my weekly events.
There is a shawl, a scarf, a jacket, a freeform thing, another shawl, something that I don't even
know what, hats, and socks, but I am very organized (another "good grief).  Organizing is not a word I use lightly.

These are Hedwig socks (referring to Hedwig, Harry Potter's owl)  for my step-daughter-in-law.
I was going to add eyes and a nose but decided it was too much work.  :-)

Some baby stuff, little jackets and two blankets

Hat that will go to charity

This hat was meant for a friend, but it came out too small.  The brim is very loose, too. I have fix it, and then this one goes to charity, as well as

the baby hat here:

 I love this shawl, the yarn is size 10 crochet thread, Katie Jaipur, and the colors are amazing.

I have put this shawl aside for a few days, since I was busy with the hats and other things.

A scarf for my niece in Argentina:

The yarn, Patons Grace.

Forgot what this was going to be:

 

 And this is a Seraphina Shawl start, which might never see another stitch done:

 Crocheted this Edelweiss shawl in less than a week.  It will probably end up in charity section.

Guess who this is!  Merlin, of course, isn't he adorable?

Baby surprise Jacket.  Pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman, the knit master.

baby jacket in apple green cotton yarn, somewhere there is a pattern, but where?  Here!

Crochet bolero for my grandaughter in Argentina

a

And finally, some of the plastic tubs that have swallowed some yarn.  These and some others are going in the stash room, if I can find a space for them.  (wiping tears here)

 

There has been some serious cabbage cooking too, in my kitchen.  Cabbage soup, Cabbage rolls, 

Cabbage casserole, and last night a soup with chicken broth, cabbage, ground chicken, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, red onion, and some celery, that was in the back of the fridge, still good, surprise.

I have lunches for two or three weeks now.  Of course it's possible I will have something else, too, since I am already getting somewhat tired with cabbage.   

I don't really have recipes for my cabbage dishes, I've used my imagination, and googled a few tricks and so on.  I am a freestyle cook.

I am also reading a lot these days, Currently P. J. Parrish's Louis Kincaid series.

Of course some others, but these books are my latest fancy.

The first book "Dark of the Moon" came from library as it's not available for Kindle.

Have started it but not even half way thru, yet.

Came across with this post in FaceBook, and thought it was good

http://sinivalakosinsilimin.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/kiiress-duunis-tois-busy-working-work.html

Decided that this was enough for one post.  Have to go and see if my mess will disappear at least a little bit.  

Insanity Strikes Again

I must be in a really deep slump.  I've started 4 or 5 Seraphina shawls this week, and having hard time with the yarn selection that would strike my interest.

Just to let you know, I have made at least 6 or 7 of those shawls already, all for gifts.

The only yarn that I have enough is Bernats Handicrafter crochet acrylic, in aqua color.  Which is kind of

growing into my liking department.  Not frogging a dark green that I started first. Then I started another one with  malabrigo yarn  which  can stay put since  I really don't like the color, (what in the world made me buy that one???) it also it would be a shame to do all the work and not get a big enough shawl,(I have only two hanks of it) or  trying to add some other color or hopefully similar color, but that would mean buying more yarn and I am definitely not in the mood for spending my coins on yarn (until the DKC Frolic at the end of this month)  I'll buy a coffee at Tims instead for now.

So, what else did I find in my rut?  One of the threads that I tried to combine with a light yellow thread pleased 

me to no end, and I decided to use it for another start of the spider web shawl.  

I was too lazy to go and look for the book I got at Nina's, knowing well enough that the pattern is there.

Instead I surfed  the web,  Ravelry and some close-by magazines, close enough not to get up from my 

chair. Merlin, the cat, would have been annoyed, as he was sleeping on his favorite place, on top of my expensive leather tote. How can I tell him no, when he looks so cute sleeping, all curled up to a nice black and white ball.

I found one pattern in one of the magazines I had bought in Argentina.  Instead of a square thingy for the web it had a pineapple design between the squares that were semi solid.  This was not too exciting for me, however. I didn't like the way the edges were done and furthermore, the chart was not for the whole thing, only 

part of it, and once I finished what was on the chart, I got totally confused how to continue.  Frog pond

helloo.  

Surfing again and found this one

http://cynscorner.blogspot.ca/2007/01/yellow-shawlshrugscarf-crochet.html

This is what I did so far
(added on April 19th, 2013)

no pattern though but a picture, which was so small that I haphazardly guessed how it was done.  Of course, 

when I got to the row where I should have started the second set of spider webs, it didn't make any sense, in my very un-logical mind.  (that is not a real word, I don't like the word illogical because it sounds like illegal).

I sat in the bus this morning and crocheted, happily, because I really liked the way this lady had done her

shawl.  I must have had a brain cramp, since I didn't think of making the picture larger.  ( I did that at work, and

it was clear that I had swayed away from the real thing and had done my own design.)

Sht happens. Still in the bus,  I frogged the creation almost to the beginning, put it in my bag and started reading my semi-fun book of senior citizens in a tour in Ireland.  Mind you, I only have the preview, if I like it enough, I must buy the rest of it.  I read the first book in the series, and it was not too bad.  Totally different from the detective thrillers that I have been reading lately.  I like those, but sometimes a person needs a break from
routine, doesn't she?  Oh, the book at the bus, Maddy Hunter:  Top O' The Mournin'.  I had read Alpine for You and also have lined-up Norway To Hide.  The first half of the first book (Alpine) was making me wonder why
I bought the book, but then, stubborn as I am, kept reading, and slowly started liking the story.  Some books are
not in my immediate  reaction to like section.  

At work I checked my files, and found the "real" pattern, the one in Katia magazine that I had bought at Creative Yarns.

I had scanned the chart for my OWN use. (if anyone wants a copy, talk to Nina, please, I ain't giving my copy to anyone.

My day was starting to look pretty good. I came in about an hour early, so I could tell about my insane events that eventually clear up with a project that will make me happy, until the next interesting project comes along.

I will keep my hook and thread close-by at lunch, and hope that nobody starts chatting with me, I want to be alone in my little crochet world.  

Snow has arrived

It's a little hard to get a good video from the balcony door, but here it is.  Our big winter storm that has caused many cancellations for colleges, universities, school buses and perhaps some businesses.

I am at home, decided to take a vacation day.  It's hard to run after a bus with my coughing spells.  

Not sure if my work office is closed, it's too early to call there.

I will do my Saturday chores today and enjoy the rest of the weekend doing what I enjoy.

Merlin went to check the snow, and was quite interested.  He even went around in the balcony.

Feels Like Friday but it's Thursday

May be because I left early from work today. 
I was fortunate to change my doctor's appointment from tomorrow to today, noon, if I made to the office before noon.  I was there ten minutes before.  (counts as positive)
I left the Center with new medication for my cough, which has been present since October last year. Some days awful, some not.  Today was the awful one. (counts as negative)

I changed the appointment in case tomorrow was going to be a no-go due to heavy snow fall. Weather people predicted some mean piles of snow.  I was not going to drive to work, was going to take the bus, which would have been somewhat aggravating for my cough. 

I came home, had lunch, and went to bed to finish a story that I had been reading lately.  I had a two hour nap which made me very happy.  Merlin came to take his nap with me, but had found another place later, since he was nowhere in sight when I woke up.  He has a few cat-nap (as per Sherri ) locations. 

I am on "vacation" tomorrow, nursing my cold with my new medication, and taking naps when ever the need arises. 

There is no snow coming down right now, but apparently tonight is the heavy fall.  I predict that all that snow will by-pass our area, it has happened. 

A friend of mine, Janet, has a beautiful art blog.  She is talented and oh, so creative.  Every time I look at her art, I want to take my sketch book and pencils and start drawing.  When I go to my "creative" bag, there
is always a knitting or crochet project on top, and there goes the urge to draw.  One of these days I will
toss all the other projects out of the way and do some serious drawing. But first I will finish my February socks. 

Merlin, the cat, likes to watch TV, Specially animal shows and lately the soccer games (football in my books)
Here he is watching the Spain vs. Uruguay game

Another mid week

This positive thinking is sometimes very hard, specially when there is no inspiration to be positive.
However, my hubby had a surprise for me in my lunch bag, and I got a smile in me.
I had forgotten to take my licorice and cough syrup with me to work, but when I opened my lunch
bag, both of them were in there.  Thank You!  You see, little things make me happy.

Creative Knitting magazine was offering a free pattern yesterday.  It's a Un-Biased Scarf, design by
Cheryl Beckerich..  the pattern is available free for a short period, I don't know for how long, but it seems to be free still today.

Of course I had to start knitting it.  I have nothing else to work on, tsk tsk what a joke.  I found a nice yarn, that I had bought in Finland a few years ago. It's Marks & Kattens Fame Trend
Here is the start of my scarf, and a coffee, too

I stopped at Tim Horton's this morning, bought a coffee for me, and a tea for a co-worker.  She didn't come in today, so the tea ended up on someone else's desk.

Tuesday already?

Sunday was a uneventful day.  Waited for the SuperBowl to start so I could watch something else.  I don't understand that game, and to be honest with you, don't want to understand it.

I knitted for a few rows, crocheted some 5" squares, and had a nap in the afternoon.  There was nothing
interesting going on.

Monday was different.  I wanted to go and get an x-ray done in a nearby health center, only to find that they
had moved.  I was late for work, about 15 minutes, which didn't worry me at all.  I've done more than 15 minutes extra time in my working days.

The day went by slowly, except when I had my lunch hour, it went too fast, I crocheted a few stitches and

came back to my office ten minutes early and finished a square.

Today is looking a lot better, I have sneezed and coughed for about 10 minutes so far, which is not a bad thing compared to that happening all day long, with 10 minute breaks.  (spoke too fast)

Look at this pretty crocheted hat, link is here.  I like Priscilla's patterns. I've not been too keen on crocheting hats, but that one looks way too interesting to ignore it.  Perhaps next winter.  Now I am busy knitting socks and crocheting squares and knitting cardigans and knitting and knitting and knitting....aaarrrrgggghhhhhh.

The socks?
It's the challenge feature for February 2013, knit socks and use yarn from stash.  My yarn is from stash, and don't know the brand of it.  I don't even remember where and when I bought it, but it's good for socks.
The challenge is posted in Ravelry.  I am to make these socks for me.  Ah, that might be a problem, since I don't really like using the socks that I have knitted, they are usually for gifts.
The yarn in these socks doesn't co-operate with the color changes, but since they are for me, it's a welcome
feature.  I like things that are a little bit off the wall.

Here is the link for the pattern

The more I think about those socks, the more I like them, for me.  

That thought will be my positive thinking for the day.  So far anything negative can go and fly a kite.

Saturday Morning

Of all the days in the week, I could have slept in, but didn't.  Not very pleased with my sleep fairy this morning.
I tried to call her back, but she was just smiling and faded away.  Merlin lifted his head, jumped close to my
face to see if I was awake.  I got up, and he followed me.

The coffee is brewing and Merlin and I are checking the morning schedule.  Looks like he is waiting for my
DH to show up from the bedroom.  It's a little bit out of the norm for Merlin, usually it's the DH who gets up
first.  I am allowing a sleep-in for him this morning.
There is very little food left for Merlin, which means a trip to Pet Smart.  We have a membership card for PS, for discounts, only.  Therefore I get Merlin's stuff in there Also, it's near my home, Canadian Tire and Future Shop, and  a huge parking lot, too.  Which is important. I very rarely go to Canadian Tire, and hubby is the one who goes to Future Shop.  If I go with him, I walk around bored.  Unless, of course
he's going to get me a new laptop, or something.

Other plans for today are still up in the air. 

Some friends were talking about a British TV Drama Series "Downton Abbey", and how wonderful the show is, etc. etc.  As I am quite easily influenced by someone else's recommendations, I had to get the DVD
for the first two series.  Didn't bother with the third one, since I wanted to make sure I like the show.  I ended up getting the third season, too, and spent a few hours last night watching it.  I know that the fourth
season is on TV (already?), as all the other ones were, but missed them on telly.  However, I want to finish the 3rd season, before the fourth, makes sense, right.

Knitting?  Oh, yes, I've done some scarves, some shawls and some starts for new projects.  My very favorite is a Wingspan shawl.  there is a pattern for it, but I improvised my shawl a little bit, and now it's
the one I like the most of my recent projects. Even though it's not in green shades.  It's blue, FPS.

Other projects, Lion for my cousin's Lion's Club show

 Market bag,

 Warm hat, with double brim to be doubly warm, this is for hubby.

There are many more, but right now the positive thought for today:  It's wonderful to be able to create art by knitting, and crocheting.  It's relaxing and brings joy.
I might come back today, after our Saturday shopping and chores. 

Friday Bright Moments

It was one of those mornings that I decided to go to WalMart before going to work.  Sometimes the morning
feels to be dragging on if I go to the office early.  This morning I wanted to be late.
I took my sweet time at WM, but managed to get out before 8.  In my desire to be late for work, I took
a long way and got stuck in traffic.  It was barely moving.  Oh, well, I didn't mind at all.  Finally when I
got to Don Mills, the traffic was smooth, Only to find a huge line-up on Sheppard Avenue.  At one
set of lights we moved maybe two or three cars at a time.  Five sets of lights before I was able to get thru.
I came to work five minutes before opening.  That was a good start.  My plan worked!

At WM I found exactly what I was looking for, some magazines and gifts for friends.  I also bought a heart
shaped plastic tray, and if my hubby doesn't do as I have hinted, I do it myself.  Fill it with yarn.  It's not a big
tray, but it is a Valentine Day tray.  I might have to wind the yarns to small balls, since all my red and pink (if I ever find it) are in big skeins, and only two of those might fit in the tray.  I saw this idea in FaceBook a few days ago: Giant Valentine Heart
I must buy some small cupcake paper cups, since my heart tray is small.

On a positive note for today, I have a hard time finding/thinking of anything negative to say, but that's not it,
it's the one pound that I had lost yesterday.  I have not found it yet, but saw some crumbles following it, and
they better reach the lost pound and not come back.  I have not notified the  missing item to the authorities,
and might not do that at all.  See my smile.

I might have mentioned that I have Kindle e-readers.  I have read many books since I got my smaller Kindle.
It's easier to handle than the one with a keyboard beneath the screen.  I was tempted to get the Kindle Paperwhite, but the brain knocked on the door, yelling, don't be stupid, you have two Kindles and  Kobo, and Kindle on your phone and Cloud Reader at work and At Home.  What do you need another one for?

I listened, and, no, I am not getting any more readers.  I have over or nearly 500 books in my Kindles and
as fast as I am able to read, I will never be able to read them all.  There are too many free books daily that
somehow end up in my little reader.

My latest reading is "Witches on Parole" by Debora Geary.
I also have the next two of the series.  First I have to finish this one.
It's light reading, no gory details, no mushy stuff, and romance, easy read.
I have read ten books written by Ed McBain, 87th Precinct Series, which I enjoyed way too much.
Tom Lowe's books are also enjoyable, I've read the four in Sean O'Brien Series, and after my witch cycle I might go back to 87th Precinct as there are several more in the series.

Later/tomorrow more

Morning Thoughts

It was a slightly gloomy morning weather when I was driving to work.  In some areas of the sky behind the clouds the sun was lurking, giving some hope for a sunnier day to come.
Took some pictures on the way to work:

I had to take a picture of Harvey's, one: the sky was beautiful, two: I used to drool over Harvey's hamburgers.  When I was going to university, on my way there, every time, I stopped at Harvey's and had
a hamburger and onion rings.  Those days are gone, no more onion rings for me.  At least until the next time.

In my very reasonable thinking, thinking about the positive and negative, I decided to do the negative
first since what I read last is going to stay in my mind better.

This morning I had a hard time to find my salt, I looked everywhere, and am still not sure if the salt I discovered is strong enough, but I found this:  I found a nice turtle neck sweater to wear to work.  I put it on, and it started an itch on my skin.  What The Heck, the material is acrylic, not wool.  Then I got really warm inside of the sweater and off it came.  I could not wear the dang sweater, and I was slightly upset.

On the positive side of things, I had lost a pound.  It's a good thing, It is.

Those two feelings are nothing miraculous to write about for this subject, but I am a simple person with simple joys and upsets. Anything that gives me a happy feeling is a good thing.
Oh, and I must say, the turtleneck sweater came first, and after that I decided to weigh myself.  That made me think that it's better to push the negative down with positive.

On this note, I will talk to you, if not later, then tomorrow.

Positive and Negative

A friend of mine mentioned that our friend is blogging one positive thought per day.  Of course I have to copy that idea, which I am going to TRY to do, too.

However, in my life there has to bee some salt with the sweetness, therefore I am trying to balance out
this thought with both, positive and negative.

The first one will be that I found several unfinished projects this morning, when looking for a special yarn.
And I did not get upset, which has been my reaction in the past. I consider that a very positive thing, as
I was quite excited in finding those projects.

The negative thing for today is that my pants are tight, which means another pound has crept into the area where the sitting device needs a comfortable wrapping.  Now it's not, and I feel pssd off.

I went to the dentist yesterday.  I have some caves where the surrounding teeth keep either storage for
food or keep some pieces hostage in there.  I had two of those dens closed with modern door material.
One more to go.  I like my dentist, she's funny, but not when I want to take a nap when she's working
on my teeth:  she and her technician talk too much and disturb my attempts to take a little snooze.

I am sure that the drilling would have been less painful than the needle the doctor poked into my mouth's
inner flesh.  Must remember to mention that next time.

We have a cat.  His name is Merlin.  He is almost white, but has lots of black markings, including one
right beside his nose.  That was then one that I noticed first when we were at the Animal Rescue Center
looking for a kitten to adopt.  There was a Calico kitten, which was really pretty, BUT, she hissed at me,
and I said, if that's how you want to be, go back to your cage.  Merlin was cuddly right away, but oh, so
timid, and skinny.  Now he is none of that, but he is not fat, and will never be too fat, he's going to be
a big one, lean and big.  He likes to sleep in the early evening, so he'll be alert at night, to play in our bed.

More thoughts tomorrow.