Saturday, February 2, 2019

What's Up, Daisy Duck?

Well, the daffodils are up, for one! I found myself outside again today, digging them out of the Bermuda grass and putting them into beds or planters.

I even put a few into a pot and brought them inside.


The shawl I'm knitting for the Prayer Shawl Ministry is going so slowly. I snatched up some donated yarn at our meeting on Thursday and mused about what to make with it. I decided to ignore my aching thumbs and pick up a crochet hook again, and start a new shawl!


I chose a very large hook, used a very loose stitch with nearly no tension, and the shawl finished so fast! It feels nice to finish something.

I also finished the pretty houndstooth shawl, and a friend has asked to buy it, which is wonderful, so I'll ship it away to its new, happy home on Monday! That's such a happy thing.


Adam is using his bread-baking cloche again.
The bread used to stick to it when he tried to take it out, but at Christmas Philip told him to allow the bread to cool completely while inside the cloche, and it would come out cleanly. And it does!
I've been delaying looking at my dark brown alpaca fleece. I knew there'd been a mouse in the bag (which died and was disposed of), and I just didn't want to deal with it. "It" being ... the mouse poop. The fleece is actually rather pretty, once I laid it out on a table on the porch.
 The fleece is dark brown (as above), not gray (as below), but here you can really see the whole fleece look.
 There's "vegetable matter" in the fleece too, but that's to be expected.
I separated the poopy fleece from the non-poopy, and called myself done for now. I do keep busy, but I have a problem doing things I don't want to do.

Speaking of mice, I suspected I had a mouse in my studio. For some reason, it's the room where a lone mouse in our house prefers to be, in spite of the lack of food or water, and the fact that they always die. I dug around in the bottom of a canvas bag and found him at last, poor thing.

 Nothing in the bag was touching him, thankfully -- it was all in other plastic bags, tied up. Well, he's gone now!

I won't end with that idea on your mind, haha!  How 'bout some yummy baked French toast? Adam made this for dinner last night. It was so, so good!
He soaked it in the egg mixture for about an hour first. He put spices, including allspice, in the mixture, and lots of brown sugar. When it's baked, the bottom of each piece becomes crusty/crunchy brown. And then ... there's the butter.

Our days should warm up nicely this week, and I hope some outdoors work will be done. I'll let you know.



7 comments:

Granny Marigold said...

That's a good tip, letting the bread cool before removing it from the cloche. I have never heard of baking bread like that but it sounds interesting.
I also didn't know bulbs that were growing would survive transplanting.
That French toast looks delicious. The brown sugar and spices might even cover the taste of eggs ( which I'm not fond of).

Kezzie said...

Oh that bread in the cloche does look goooooooood!!!! Mmmmm!
The Alpaca fleeces look cosy. Poor, silly mouse.
Your shawls are marvelllous, especially the sold one!! You ARE clever!

Henny Penny said...

Your shawls are so pretty! Gosh, my new year's resolution, the only one I even thought about making, was to learn to crochet. I would be tickled to learn to make a dish cloth. :) A shawl would be wonderful. I did very little housework today and spent the entire day working outside. Don't you just love this bit warm weather.

Lisa Richards said...

You sure are a speedy shawl maker! That french toast looks sinfully delicious, but it couldn't quite dispel the image of the mouse from my mind, lol. I'm grateful that I haven't had any mouse problems for quite some time. Your containers of warm, fleecy materials must be quite a temptation for them. Enjoy your nice weather!

Carol Blackburn said...

So glad Adam got that tip from Philip and it worked out perfectly for him. Like I say, there is always something someone can teach us if we listen. Your shawls are so lovely. It seems like your little mice are attempting to give you ideas for your next book, what with snuggling in your fleece and all. Have a great new week.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Both of your shawls are lovely. I need to make some myself. Thanks for the inspiration. I've been crocheting lap blankets.

The bread and the french toast look yummy and are making me hungry. ;-)

Have a lovely Sunday ~ FlowerLady

annie said...

The shawls are beautiful, the colors so pretty.
Smart sissy tied a piece of bologna on a trap, and that got on here.
I love your posts, I have never potted the bulbs though.
I would love some of that French toast!
And the cloche looks amazing!
Thank you for sharing.
Still praying here.
Blessings!