WOYWW 482

Better late than never… It’s been rather a busy day and I’ve only just had the chance to get this post sorted.

Here’s my studio today.

Chaos reigns eternal. No change, except a bit more mess. I did manage to tidy up my wools a bit, though, over on the other side.

I’ve been busy again with the embellishments for my scarf. I finished the butterflies and have started making some crochet flowers. I shall just keep going until I think I’ve got enough! They are fairly quick to do, and relaxing while watching TV.

I’m glad I made a mistake with one of the butterflies and only did 6 “petals” instead of 8 – when folded over to create the butterfly, it makes a slightly smaller one, of a different shape. Serendipity, and nothing like a bit of variety! The larger flowers are done in several layers, and are quite 3-d.

Kitties

The kitties had their annual kitty MOT this week, and the first of the annual boosters of their inoculations. They were so good! They didn’t make a sound, either when the needle went in, or when they suffered the indignity of having a thermometer shoved up their bums. They looked slightly anxious but the lovely young Polish vet was so gentle with them, and she spoke to them softly, and gave each one a stroke after it was all done. They have gained so much weight since last year – last August, Lily weighed 1.33 kilos and she now weighs 3.3 kilos so that’s a gain of a whole kilo! Ruby was 1.23 kilos last year, and is now 3.6 kilos so she’s gained even more. She remains the heavier of the two, and is pretty solid! The vet said their weights were healthy and they shouldn’t gain any more without being overweight. They are eating well, and getting plenty of exercise running around the garden.

Here’s lookin’ at you, kid!

Kitty chorus – feeding time at the zoo!

Health Update

I still haven’t got an appointment for my CT scan to see if I really have developed another hernia (I’m pretty sure I have), but the support garments lady is coming to see me on 11th September for a fitting, which is progress.

The man from the company that supplied the power assist system for my wheelchair was down in our area yesterday and serviced my wheelchair for me. Good to go for another year.

Sourdough

Last weekend I made my best sourdough bread ever! I am following a particular Youtube video and this really seems to work.

Fantastic crumb this time – look at all those lovely traditional sourdough holes!

I made this loaf with half-and-half white and whole wheat flour instead of using wholemeal rye. I’m not sure if the improvement was due to this, or my improving dough-handling skills.

I have just started another batch, and this time I’ve divided the wholemeal half into half-and-half wheat and rye, to see how that goes. I do like the flavour of the rye.

Busy weekend ahead

This week, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, I am attending a Christian conference, non-resident, as the place is just up the road from us. I have been asked to sing and I received the list today – they want a lovely lot of songs, including a few from my repertoire which I haven’t sung for ages. I had a long practice session this afternoon and they are still a bit rough round the edges, but I may have another go this evening, and will certainly set aside some time tomorrow for further practice, and I think they will be OK. My friend is also singing, which is great. I’ve booked in for all the meals except breakfast, and my hubby is joining me for the first and last meals. It will also be a lovely opportunity to meet up with several old friends.

I have also been asked to bake the challah bread for the Friday evening meal, so I’m going to do that tomorrow as well, and work on my sourdough throughout the day. The sourdough doesn’t need a lot of work, but it needs quite a bit of attention – several folding sessions at two-hourly intervals etc. so it’s fairly time-consuming in that I have to be here, tied to the kitchen timer! There should be a nice baking smell in the house tomorrow.

Fermentation

My kombucha is going very well indeed. This time I set aside 6 bottles for second fermentation, with raspberry puree, which is delicious. The Scoby (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeasts) – the “dead jellyfish” that you use as a starter, has grown a lot and it’s doing a fantastic job. This fermented tea is so delicious, and has so many health benefits. I start a new batch on Fridays, and start the second fermentation of the previous batch at the same time – this is ready in three days.

I have also made a small jar of fermented dill cucumbers just to see how they worked. After three or four days on the kitchen counter, they are sensational. Definitely something to do again. Absolutely no effort required – I just cut up the cucumbers into strips, stuck them in a jar with some dill and chopped garlic, and topped the whole thing up with brine, covered it and left it to its own devices. I just had to “burp” the jar morning and evening to let the CO2 escape. It’s now in the fridge, but I don’t think it will be there for long!

The other day my hubby saw me at work in the kitchen and asked, “Are you working on your liquids?” – not drinks, haha! He said this in a rather dark tone of voice as if he was suggesting that they were the product of Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory.

Other food

My hubby has started bringing in fast quantities of apples from our tree. His brother was over today and he confirmed that they are Bramleys – we didn’t know what variety they were. They are very good apples. My hubby peels and slices them for me, and then it’s up to me to do something with them. This year I’m determined to be a bit more adventurous than just stewing them. I’ve already fermented some, but my hubby doesn’t like those much. I am going to make more apple butter in the slow cooker this year, and I’m going to attempt to dry some. I don’t have a dehydrator but understand you can get good results using the oven on its lowest setting. I’m not going to have much time to attend to this for a few days, though.

I haven’t done much other stuff in the kitchen as my recent cooking days have yielded lots of freezer fodder and we’ve been noshing on that. I’m making a salad for tonight, including a sweet potato salad that I made this morning with fresh herbs from the garden, and a mixture of mayonnaise and home-made yoghurt (now being made from an heirloom culture I got online – fabulous). Once my bought mayonnaise is all used up, I’m not buying any more. My friend who got me started on fermentation gave me a recipe for her fabulous mayonnaise made from kefir, and that’s definitely the way to go. I saw a Youtube video last week where the woman said, “Read the labels on the back of foods in the supermarket. If you can’t pronounce any of the ingredients, don’t buy it!” Lol!

Have a great week, everyone.