WOYWW 485

I’m sorry I didn’t make it to our weekly round-the-desks nosey fest last week – I fully intended to, but in the end was too busy with other things.

Great news this week – I’ve spent some time in the studio!

First of all, a general view, showing how much tidier it is, after I spent quite a long time tidying up, putting things away, and putting some things aside that I no longer want.

The white unit in the foreground is one of my pull-out units. This one belongs under the main desk, but it’s never in there because that’s where I generally sit. You can see another one under the fan. They are on casters and can pull out, giving me a place to sit and an extra work surface. When the builder was making my studio, I asked him to make me several of these, to go in the different zones where I can sit to work. I can only sit in one place at a time and it seemed a shame to waste the space, and they can be pulled out when required. If I want a large flat surface, I can pull them all out and put them together.

There’s still quite a lot of tidying and sorting to do, but at least I can move around in there now.

Here’s my desk, taken last night.

I’ve done two more backgrounds for the box for the album about Mum, 12 x 12’s from the ghastly paper stack I’ve had hanging around for years. These two identical ones were done with a combination of Distress Inks, Distress Oxides and Infusions. I don’t think I’ve got quite as much coverage as I did when altering smaller pieces for the album itself so I may add a bit more to these. I think I’ve probably done enough pieces to cover the outside of two boxes now. I am keen to get this project finished because I am full of ideas for things I want to be doing, and having gone off the boil with this one for a while, it’s a bit of a duty rather than a pleasure to get it done, but I am trying to be good and get it out of the way before I tackle anything else (such as getting down to some of my other UFOs!).

I’ve done a bit more on the scarf embellishments. I think I’ve crocheted enough flowers now, and have started on the leaves. No photos yet as I’ve only done one so far! Not much time this week to pursue this.

Cooking

Dried Apples

Last week, I sliced up a lot of our apples and tried drying them in the oven at 50 deg. C over a long period. I wasn’t sure how successful this would be. To start with, a huge amount of moisture came out of them and I could see it running down inside the oven door! I opened the door and mopped up quite a bit, and left it open a crack for about half an hour till it was cleared, then shut it again and kept it going. I turned the oven off overnight and gave it another boost the next day.

I had sprinkled ground cinnamon over them, and the kitchen smelt absolutely marvellous.

Here are the apples as I was turning them over.

Here they are in a box. Some of them got a bit over-done but it doesn’t seem to have affected them apart from looking very dark.

We’ve already made inroads into them. They don’t look particularly appetising – more like dried up old mushrooms! – but they are absolutely delicious – chewy, very sweet and flavoursome, and extremely more-ish!

Sourdough

Two more successful batches on successive weekends. Here is the last one, baked on Saturday night and cut on Sunday morning.

Look at that lovely open crumb! This is what we are after with traditional sourdough. Nice glossy holes.

It is so delicious. This loaf was made with half-and-half whole wheat and white flour. I’ve more or less given up on the rye flour now, apart from feeding Esmeralda (my starter) with it – she seems to like it! It tends to make the dough extremely wet and sticky, and difficult to handle. My dough-handling technique has improved a lot and I’m getting a good structure and a decent amount of oven spring now, and producing pretty consistent results week by week – no more flying saucers lately!

When you feed the starter you have to take some out or it becomes spent and stale and stops working, as the yeasts have eaten what they need. Some people throw this excess starter away but this seems an awful waste of excellent nutritious food to me. I discovered some recipes online, including a truly fabulous one for sourdough crackers, which I am now making on a regular basis. Here is last week’s batch.

They are quite quick and easy to make, and so crisp and delicious. These are made with rye flour because that’s what I feed Esmeralda with. They are a lot more satisfying than regular crackers, and are great with the kefir cheese that I make. There is no sugar in them, just flour, salt and water and a dash of baking soda, and coconut oil (a healthy saturated fat). I have found the secret for making successful sourdough crackers is to roll the dough out very thinly so they get really crisp. Yummy!

This week I also made a fresh batch of curries for the freezer, having run out a while back – Madras curry, chicken korma, and curried vegetables, all frozen in small portions so we can have our own “takeaway” selection when we want!

This week I must make more soup, and some roasted vegetable quiches if I have the time and energy.

Kitties

Lily and Ruby aren’t quite so keen on going out in the garden these days, since the weather went off. Ruby always gets very dirty feet! Hope you can see them in this photo! That front paw is supposed to be white…

They have really settled down now they are grown up, and now that it’s cooler, they love to spend time with us in the evenings, sitting with us. We have both been looking forward so much to this – up until fairly recently they were still such babies and our sitting room isn’t really kitten-proof. Now, they have the run of the place and can (mostly) be trusted!

When I am busy preparing meals etc., they settle down with my hubby, and like Beatrice and Phoebe before them, tend to sit one on each knee.

However, when I finally sit down, they prefer to come to me, because on the recliner with a nice soft blanket (not just for warmth for me but to protect myself a bit from their claws), they can get a lot more comfortable and can cuddle up together, and are less likely to fall off.

This picture was taken later that same evening. I hate having to tip them off when I need to get up! Ruby is usually nearer my feet, and if she lies on them, she is soooo heavy and my feet get very uncomfortable! (Note the wet patch just behind Lily’s left ear – well washed by Ruby!)

A couple of evenings ago my hubby was trying to get them in for supper and they were both making a terrific noise outside, rushing around and obviously very interested in something behind the pots in the patio. We went out to look, and there was a toad there! They will need to be a lot quieter and more restrained if they are ever going to make successful hunters – the racket they were making would have scared any prey off well in advance of the onslaught! Happily the toad lived to croak another day and the kitties eventually came in for a more civilised meal.

Health Update

I have now seen the support garments lady and she’s measured me up for new pants – I’ve gone down a size since the last prescription over 18 months ago because I’ve lost weight. My current ones have lost a lot of their stretch and supportiveness so they probably aren’t doing much good. You are supposed to have new ones every year but I didn’t arrange it at the beginning of the year because I knew I was due for surgery and you can’t wear them for several weeks afterwards, and also I didn’t know if I would change shape during that time, so a new prescription is long overdue. I am now awaiting the arrival of the first pair and if they are OK, they will make up two more for me to make the total of three that I am allowed in one year. They are extremely expensive (bespoke, specially designed for people with stomas) at around £80 a pair, but the cost of three pairs is nothing compared with the cost of a hernia repair operation. Thanks to our wonderful NHS, I get them on prescription, free of charge.

I am pretty convinced now that my hernia has returned. I still haven’t had my CT scan appointment and the support garments lady said she would ask the stoma nurse to chase this up for me. Everything takes soooo long…

Apart from that, I’ve been OK, although extremely tired during the week after the conference. Going back on my rivaroxaban (anti-coagulant) soon sorted out the thrombophlebitis in my leg and I’ve had no more pain, which is a relief.

Other Activities

Last week I resumed my little Bible study group again after a long break. I stopped it after my hubby broke his leg and Mum died, and then I was so ill earlier in the year, and after I had recovered, I had a lot of catching up to do, so we decided to leave it till the autumn to start again. It’s so nice to be getting together again and we have a new member, too, which is very encouraging. I need to spend quite a bit of time during the week preparing for these meetings, and designing the visual aids which I show by connecting the computer to the TV by cable.

After the recent conference, our local Torbay Friends of Israel group has now started having regular evening meetings at the same conference centre (which is only about 5 mins away from us by car) and we had our first meeting on Sunday. I was too tired to sing for them but will no doubt do so at future meetings. We have another Erev Shabbat (Sabbath Eve) meal coming up this Friday (the leader does one each month) and on Thursday I shall be making the challah for that (the two plaited loaves made from enriched, sweet dough – delicious!).  It’s very nice to be able to do something to contribute to the meal. Our leader is a full-time wheelchair user and he does the whole thing himself, cooking a lovely chicken casserole (other people provide the puddings) and lays up a beautiful table each time. Usually about a dozen of us attend and it’s a very special evening. I sometimes sing during those evenings too.

Yesterday afternoon I was back at the conference centre, spending the afternoon with a friend who is down from Bournemouth for a conference – we always try to get together when she’s down and has a free afternoon. We had such a great time! I only see her about twice a year so we make the most of it.

So all in all, it’s been a very busy fortnight chez-Shosh.