Granny squares

 Ok, I've changed my mind on using the Daisy Chain square for the skirt. It's a pretty square and I'll definitely use it for something... maybe a bag?... but I've realised that the pattern designers were right and the plain granny works best in this case.

 I made some quick mock-ups in Photoshop to decide if I should edge the squares in black, which seemed like a good idea while I was working the first ones. Black is always a tidy colour with which to frame things.

 

 But once again I think the pattern designers were right, and using the same colour as the body of the skirt pulls it all together. Black just makes it look tacked on the bottom.

However... I do think I'll make mine a bit shorter than this one and have it above the knee (dare I say this, after all my deviations from the pattern so far have been disastrous?) Will I even finish it? Will I wear granny squares in public? Watch this space!

 

Whilst making one of the squares, I became enamoured with this combination of soft grey and white. It felt somehow magical, and when I put it down next to the book I'm reading, the connection became clear... it's the colour of moonbeams on clouds. How beautiful, I whispered, a moonlit night blanket...

So I made this mockup to check if I really really liked it, and I really really do. Especially when I thought of adding some shell buttons to alternate squares. I like it so much I want to start on it right away, but I need that yarn for the skirt project... must finish the skirt first!

On my reading table

 Oh library, I've been missing you. Most of the libraries around town are open again but not my local, which means I had to resort to actually buying magazines. The Mobile Library has been in the neighbourhood (this is a library in a bus - very cool and I'll see if I can get some photos when I go next weekend), but it is by nature small and rather heavily depleted at the moment.

 So a couple of weeks ago I went to Borders and fulfilled my craving. Country Living (British edition) is my absolute favourite magazine, I love its seasonality and I usually get the issue that corresponds to what season we are in here in the southern hemisphere. Unfortunately I couldn't do that in the shop, so I got the January issue (which was cheaper, I guess because it was about due to be pulled from the shelf). Winter will be here soon enough, I figured. I also got Country Gardens (US edition - spring), it doesn't matter quite so much what the season is with this one as they always have beautiful photos.

 As usual with Country Living, the most beautiful page is on the cover. I wish I could get my kitchen to be pretty and functional, unfortunately it tends to be just functional and completely messy.

 Bright ideas for dark days - I like the hyacinth bulbs in the tin pots, and the bird feeder in the terracotta pot. I think I'll make some feeders like that.

 Country Gardens has cute ideas for spring posies - my favourite is the ostrich egg vase in the lower left corner.

 And a primula auricula theatre - apparently this used to be the way to display your primroses! "...the tradition dates to the 16th century in France and Belgium. Legend has it that Huguenot weavers carried their beloved auriculas with them when they fled to England. By century's end, primrose pandemonium was almost as hysterical as 17th-century Tulipmania with prized specimens going for small fortunes."

Can't say I'm all that keen on primroses, but maybe if I had a darling little theatre like that to display them in. Guess I've got all winter to construct one!

Red lentil lasagne

There was an interesting discussion on Facebook this week, when I asked if anyone else is cooking more vegetarian meals due to the cost of meat. It turns out many people are - even the "cheap cuts" aren't that cheap these days, and personally I like to eat "happy" meat, which has been humanely raised (not what you typically get at Pak N Save).

So, bring on the lentils! I've experimented a bit with them and the texture when cooked is not that dissimilar to mince. I made a lentil dhal which was really good served with wedges, and this lasagne, and I'm going to try something like spaghetti bolognese or maybe tacos... I think I'll cook up a big batch, maybe in the slow cooker, and freeze it in portions. Then I can have quick easy meals after work. Here's what I did for the lasagne. Let me know if you try it!

RED LENTIL LASAGNE

Start off frying a chopped onion and 2-3 chopped garlic cloves. Rinse 1 cup red lentils and add to the pan with 2 cups of water and 1 can of chopped tomatoes. Add about 1/4 cup tomato paste, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, and any herbs you like such as basil, oregano or thyme (fresh or dried). Cover and simmer for 35-45 minutes or until lentils are tender. It's better to have it slightly runny - add a bit of water if you need to - so that the dry pasta sheets will soften and cook properly. (Or precook your sheets!)

Keep checking on the mixture while it cooks, it may need more water. Mine took quite some time to cook, probably because I didn't cover the pan.

While that's cooking, make a white sauce with 1 tbsp marg, 1 tbsp flour and 2 cups milk. (If yours turns into a lumpy mess like mine did, sieve it and thicken it with a bit of cornflour dissolved in milk. Then resolve to make it in the microwave next time because at least it won't burn on the bottom.)

Spray an oven dish with oil and layer up the mixture alternating with a packet of lasagne sheets. I layered thusly: lentils, lasagne, lentils, lasagne, white sauce, lentils, lasagne, white sauce, grated cheese. Then bake in the oven at 180 C for 35-40 mins.

Falling sunshine

 My favourite tree is doing its autumn thing. Even on a dull grey day it radiates golden light, and is a most beautiful thing to see from out the windows and when I'm pottering around outside.

The bird feeder is slowly being revealed as the leaves fall. Soon it will be time to mix up some birdseed cakes and see what wildlife I can attract this winter. I saw a fantail at the botanic gardens last weekend, so I'm hopeful that perhaps it may wander over to my side of town? And maybe bring some bellbirds with it? (Fat chance I think.)

 I love the golden carpet on the grass. These leaves make a great mulch, so I got out my rake and raked them into piles. Then I put the piles into a wool bag. They'll break down over the next few months into leaf mould, and I'll use them on the garden in spring.

 I love raking leaves, so I didn't even mind when a wind sprang up after I had cleared these away, and a new sprinkling appeared. I'll get them next weekend.

Fingers crossed for a lovely sunny Easter weekend, so I can get some more tidying up done.

Work in progress

 I've been busy these past few weeks harvesting and preserving food from the garden. I've made several batches of tomato relish, some stewed apples, plenty of chopped vegetables for the freezer, and now I've moved onto the dehydrator. This is on loan from Jon's mum, and it's been working hard on the bench this week. Dried apples = yum! Dried pears = yummer! Dried tomatoes with garlic and oil = I will eat these till I throw up.

 

Here's my current WIP. It's this pattern which I found through Ravelry. I never imagined myself crocheting a granny square skirt, and I'm not even sure I'll wear it once made, but I think the greys and black make a kitschy design a lot more elegant. Also, crochet is supposedly hot on the catwalk this season - it would be funny for me to be ahead of a trend!

 I thought I would replace the standard granny sqaure with one a bit prettier - this is Daisy Chain from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans. It's definitely prettier, but not as pretty as a certain pink-nosed somebody.

 

Only thing is, I'm not sure if I like these squares anymore. I mean I like them, but do they look right on the skirt or are they a bit too busy? Maybe the appeal lies in the simplicity of the plain grannies.

I'm not sure and it's really too hard to decide right now, so I've put this to one side. I might make a couple of plain grannies on the weekend and see how I like them.

Autumn days

 The season has definitely changed. This morning was warm, sunny, beautiful. I went about the potager tidying, clearing away dead foliage and weeds, and dug over the middle quarters ready for the winter planting. It was so warm everything needed a drink of water. I spent a lot of time admiring this patch of cosmos - truly, every vege garden should have some, it makes such a lovely backdrop for leeks.

See how pretty?

I bought a set of solar lights (to help me find the lettuce on dark mornings) and I put them around the potager. As I did so the day began to cloud over, and not long after it was raining.

This is how the day ended... raindrops on the window and flowers drooping in the dusk. Thanks to daylight savings, dusk is now so much earlier. About four of my solar lights came on, the rest hadn't managed to charge enough.

 But, this is the shape of things to come, and I have prepared. I've been crocheting myself some winter warmers, starting with these fingerless gloves. I pretty much live in fingerless gloves in winter, so I need a few pairs for variety. I found this pattern on Ravelry - it's called Firecracker Gloves. I enjoyed working them up, the pattern stitch made things interesting and they are well fitted.

 I'd like to make more in different colours, I just need to find some more yarn. It needs quite a fine lace weight yarn, which is not that easy to find especially with Spotlight closed (not that they have lace yarn anyway!) This yarn is ok but I would prefer one without the slubbing.

 I'd like to make some in grey, a soft fuzzy mohair type yarn (which I probably won't find, as actual mohair is too scratchy for me to wear around my wrists) and embroider the backs.

I have some more crochet projects to share, and will try to do that later in the week. Till then, enjoy your flower gardens and keep your fingers warm!

Harvest dinner

 

This is the post I meant to share nearly a month ago, before the damn earthquake interrupted everything. Anyway, here are the results of a late summer harvest... Desiree potatoes, zucchini, red onion, carrots, basil, chilli and assorted tomatoes.

I chopped them and put them in a dish, then made up a white sauce and poured it over the top.

A bit of grated cheese, bake it in the oven and then... yum! I served it with some crumbed chicken and a tomato salad.

 

Remember those blueberries I picked one day? I did make friands and they were delicious too. The rest of the blueberries went into the freezer, although sadly I had to take them out when we lost power. I ended up taking them to my mum's so they weren't completely wasted, I'm a little disappointed that I won't get to use them myself but glad that they weren't just thrown out like some of our food had to be. Anyway, I know my mum will enjoy them and maybe there will be some yummy blueberry treats waiting for me next time I visit! Till then I'll be savouring the memory of that friand.

In Memoriam

Today was the service in remembrance of the Christchurch earthquake. We went along, on bikes, and sat in Hagley Park with thousands of others. Thinking thoughts of sadness, loss, but also hope and unity. It felt right to be there. My city, I grieve for you but I also believe that we can rise up and, eventually, build you better and stronger than before. We just have to be strong till then.

I'm also thinking of Japan and the terrible events unfolding there. All around it has not been a good start to the year. So I do what I always do in such times and retreat to the garden, look at the flowers, and hope for a better day tomorrow. Kia kaha.

Sandy soil

It's hard to believe that over a week has passed since the grey and dreadful day that changed the face of our city. Slowly, we pick up the pieces and try to move on. We are cheered by messages of support from all around the globe, comfort from neighbours, help from strangers. Kia kaha, they say. Be strong.

At home we have power, and a trickle of water that increased a bit in pressure today - enough to finally make it to the hot water heater. The irony was, when I turned on the shower and jumped in, there was not enough cold water pressure to temper the hot! So my shower was rather short and very hot. I'm sure it will improve over the coming days though, as people are working around the clock to rebuild the infrastructure.  I am so grateful to them.

Above is the lake of silt and mud that poured into our backyard about 2 hours after the initial quake. It poured out from the corner of the house, flooded the garage, and raced down the drive.

A yummy mixture of sand and liquid clay.

Which left an extremely sticky yet slippery layer to navigate. (The wheelbarrow lies, useless, with its punctured tyre.)

The sand was almost 20 cm deep in places.

This is a video Jon shot of the liquefaction as it happened - gives you an idea of the powerful forces under the earth.

Here you can see it starting to drain away, leaving a thin layer of mud and a huge pile of sand... time to get those shovels out.

I was gutted when I saw the flooding in the potager. However, most of the water quickly drained away and there was not so much silt here, just a thin layer that will be easy to scrub off.

Here it is a week after the event. I really need to get out there and start weeding, some day when I have time! Luckily a lot of the plants are finishing off and don't need water. They do need harvesting though - tomatoes are actually rotting on the vines which is annoying! I also noticed the borlotti bean pods are dry and ready to split, and the spuds have needed digging up for a while now.

But lookie - I've finally got flowers in the vege garden! The cosmos is providing a beautiful backdrop to the elegant leeks, and the calendula Sunset Tones are opening their little faces. The yellow one is Common Calendula (horrors!), but the others have their bright tones muted by burgundy edging on the petals.

Pretty. And in other good gardening news, I won a competition on Flaming Petal for a new echinacea plant. It's called Pink Poodle and is covered with frilly pink petals, a bit like a dahlia. Looking forward to growing this new treasure!

 So here we are with the sun setting over the potager, and the bright faces of the pansies reminding me that tomorrow is another day. Thanks for stopping by to visit me, and I hope that wherever you are in the world, someone is taking care of you. Kia kaha.

Earthquake update

Just a quick update to let you all know I'm safe and well. Our house suffered a bit of damage in the form of cracks and jammed doors, as well as some liquefaction in the back yard which flooded the garage and dumped a huge amount of sand right outside the back door. The house is liveable though - amazingly our chimney is still standing!

I'm staying with family in Timaru at the moment, but hoping to return soon to begin the cleanup. Jon is still in Chch as he had to go to work. Power is now back on, but no water.

Thanks for all the messages and emails. I'm as well as can be, although heartbroken at the loss and destruction all around. We've had so much help from family, neighbours and strangers that I will be forever grateful for. Thanks again everyone, it's heartening to know you are thinking of me.

Take care
xx