Slams the REBOOT button on today.

This weather is bananas. High heat and humidity does not make me happy. And with all the pollen in the air my fate was to have an asthma attack this morning as I put the kids on the bus. Now it is + 75 degrees in here with windows shut and curtains drawn. It is sweltering in here and I'm trying to summon up the energy to get some dishes done.

Yesterday wasn't quite as bad but I was busy running errands all day. Still, I managed to finish the alpaca yarn scarf that I was knitting. This was fiber that I spun on my Navajo spindle and put aside for months unsure what to do with it. Well, let's call it a year, if we're being more accurate time-wise. It is grey and a very chunky heavy weight yarn. It will make for a very warm scarf when the weather gets cold again.

All this humidity has put spinning on hold until we get the air conditioner running. I have been debating spinning silk but my hands are rather dry. The irony of dry skin problems while you are breathing soup is almost as painful as the breathing process right now. I have decided to start finishing up projects that I had sitting around waiting to be worked on. This lead to my working on the scarf I started back in February (the alpaca one). I finished the shawl I had started last month. It was difficult going at first because I couldn't really see what I was doing. I'm debating if I'm going to add any sort of fringe or anything on the narrow ends of it or not.

I also finished up last week the huge granny square scrap afghan I was making for Beloved's birthday present. I made some good progress on the shawl I am calling amythest. It is in shades of purple going to white. It is a more shaped shawl than what I have made in the past. It is a heptagon (7 sided shape) with a split on one of the corners.Once I had it large enough to sit comfortably on my shoulders, I have begun working in straight rows to make it hang straight down from that point. I'm not going to make it any larger in diameter. This is not going to be a very large shawl. Probably more of a shawlette that reaches to my elbows.

I have a tablecloth that I'm crocheting out of the teal thread I won in the silent auction at spinning guild last January. That is light enough that I can work on it despite the heat. It is, however, rather tedious. I am still on the boring part of the pattern, though. I'll probably be working on that a bit later today when it is too hot to do much of anything at all. Right now, I am going to go wash some dishes, make some gazpacho, and set up some tea to steep in the sunshine on the back deck. Sitting in front of the fan had something of a restorative effect, I suppose.

Monday Menu

I am having an odd day. Mood started out pretty awful. Then I was angry at past issues. So I burned my anger out doing things like scrubbing the tub and washing a ton of dishes. I'm still angry but it is not like it was earlier where I was contemplating going and getting into a fight with someone. Now, I'm calm and my anger is much calmer. Like being angry that I dropped a stitch when I was knitting something. My brain is weird. Hopefully this means that my mood is going to be better now.

Date	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sun	scrambled eggs	sandwiches / leftovers	pizza
Mon	kids: cereal & fruit me: scrambled egg, sausage, avacado pudding, coffee	Kids: school Hubby: pizza leftovers & pasta salad Me: leftovers	hamburgers carrot salad
Tues	kids: waffles me: avacado pudding boiled egg, toast & butter coffee	Kids: school Hubby: sandwich, chips hard boiled egg, cheese Me: soup & salad	ground turkey tacos refried beans salsa & guacamole
Wed	kids: cereal & fruit me: blueberry-egg bake, avacado pudding & butter coffee	Kids: school Hubby: burrito bowl Me: taco salad	homemade pizza & salad
Thurs	kids: waffles me: zucchini hash w/ eggs & butter coffee	Kids: school Hubby: leftovers Me: cobb salad	sloppy joes cauliflower rice veggie sticks & dip
Fri	kids: cereal me: mason jar omlette & avacado pudding & butter coffee	Kids: school Hubby: sandwiches & chips Me: leftovers	chicken korma cauliflower rice naan kids: ez mac
Sat	eggs, bacon & fruit	leftovers / sandwiches	spaghetti & meatballs

Friday Fiction: The Time Machine Is Broken

I wound the key on the mechanism. The quaint sounds of a music box played with the whirring of gears and uncoiling of springs as counterpoint to it. Then the music skipped and began to play again from the beginning as the key twisted backwards. Father did not tell me what to do if this happened. I watched with some curiosity as the music than began to play backwards. The music skipped and the mechanism whirred somewhat louder than before.

I tapped upon the brass back plate wherein the key fitted. Something within rattled. The key began to turn in the proper direction but the music was silent. And then I looked up and saw something most curiously disturbing. Everyone in the station around me had stopped moving. A child hung in midair suspended by possibly some gossamer thread I could not see but of incredible strength. I moved to get up and discovered that my body did not obey my will. I cast my gaze down to my right hand resting beside the device.

It felt as though an incredible weight was upon me, thrusting my hand down into the very wood of the counter it sat upon. Though my limbs could not obey me, my eyes could. I looked over at the device. The key turned slower as that crushing weight became unbearable. My vision began to blur and become spotted. Desperately, I tried to lift my hand to wind the key back to its proper position.

If it were possible, I believe that sweat would have been profuse upon my brow. Instead, everything became cool and colors grew dim. Oh, Father, what should I do? As the key's turning came to a stop, silence and a terrible cold overcame the whole of reality. All was dark. I had no voice with which to cry out for help. I had no body to move. Only one thing remained, my awareness and memories. But even the memories are faded.

Fiber fluff: Working on Presents.

I have been working on presents for Beloved's birthday next week. I finished the box and handed it to him night before last. Today, I just finished the scrap granny square afghan for him to use when he decides to nap on the couch in cool weather. The thing needs a good wash but it is finally done.

I just have two more things to make and/or acquire and I'll be finished. I figure four presents over the week leading up to his birthday means it is no big deal if I get the exact date wrong, again.

I am making slow but steady progress combing fiber and spinning it. M.K. sent me a wonderful rainbow of blue faced leicester locks that I have been using my mother in law's viking style combs to process it. I'm almost finished with the white. Next is going to be the bright sunshine yellow. The grey alpaca fiber that I was going to spin on my navajo spindle is going to wait for fall. That stuff felts so easily, I'm going to stick with my current project. That is a silk-merino blend in all the colors of storm clouds. I'm spinning it on my small turkish spindle. I haven't decided how I'm going to be plying it. I still have the rest of the braid to spin into singles before I have to worry about plying though.

I'm waaay behind on the sheep study stuff. I'm going to try to wash fiber this weekend if the weather isn't too bad. My hope is I can wash it and then dry it in lingere bags out in the sun. Keep each bag labeled and I should be able to tell which sample is which. I think last breed we got samples from was Hog Island. I have at least six samples to wash and then comb or card depending on the staple length.

I have decided that I'm going to make notecards with the details that I learn in the spinning process for the different samples. On the notecard will be a sample of the cleaned fleece showing staple length (which will also be noted). Then there will be a tiny sample of singles and a plied yarn made from each sample. Notation will include the weight of the spindle it was spun on, wraps per inch, and total yardage I got out of the sample. I'm thinking that the final skeins of each sample will be knitted together into a shawl. Just a basic triangular shawl.

Menu for the Week of 5/14/18

The last several days have been busy. Just the usual household stuff going on. I am not entirely sure what to say about how things are going on the diabetes front. I've been attempting a ketogenic diet while waiting for my health insurance company to approve a medication they denied earlier. This has not been a pleasant time for me. I've found somethings I have enjoyed (zucchini hash and butter coffee) and some that I can tolerate (egg 'muffins'). It is still hard and I am still spending a good amount of time feeling hungry. I don't know if it is because I'm eating less carbs, because of the diabetes, or because of my other medications. I honestly don't know.

I'm trying not to set myself up for cooking three separate meals at a given time. It is leaning towards that happening. Just because what I am doing is so radically different from everyone else in the household.

Date	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sun	scrambled eggs w/ bacon & fruit	sandwiches / leftovers	pizza
Mon	kids: cereal & fruit me: zucchini hash w/ egg butter coffee	Kids: school Hubby: noodle bowl with muffin Me: leftovers	hamburgers carrot salad
Tues	kids: french toast sticks me: mason jar omelette & butter coffee	Kids: school Hubby: chinese leftovers Me: soup & salad	ground turkey tacos refried beans salsa & guacamole
Wed	kids: cereal & fruit me: blueberry-egg bake & 1/2 muffin	Kids: school Hubby: burrito bowl Me: taco salad	meatball stroganoff & salad
Thurs	kids: french toast sticks me: zucchini hash w/ eggs	Kids: school Hubby: leftovers Me: meatballs & zoodles	broccoli salad chicken salad sandwiches potato salad
Fri	kids: cereal me: mason jar omlette & 1/2 muffin	Kids: school Hubby: sandwiches & chips Me: leftovers	pad thai stir fry & spring rolls kids: ez mac
Sat	eggs, bacon & fruit	leftovers / sandwiches	sloppy joes cauliflower rice veggie sticks & dip

Monday Menu: Week of 5/6/18

The menu plan for this week has me eating some type of egg thing every blasted morning. I'm not thrilled with this, but so far it is the lowest carb form of breakfast I can come up with. I'm going to try making chia seed 'pudding' tonight to see if I can tolerate the stuff. If so, it will be added into the menu as per needed. Sunday went off the rails menu-wise because my kitchen was a disaster. As such, breakfast was cereal for the kids and half a banana and some meatballs for me. Lunch was foraging for leftovers in the fridge. Dinner was salad and a sandwich. Well, sort of. Beloved didn't have the salad part and the kids refused any of it in favor of macaroni and cheese.

I'm trying really hard to do this low carb meal planning for myself and avoid having to make three meals for any given meal. It's been challenging. The hardest part of going really low carb is the fact that I feel hungry all the time and I'm finding myself struggling not to skip meals. Sounds contradictory, but feeling hungry all the time is triggering my almost anorexia behaviors. It's been pretty awful. I've been emotionally a mess through out all of this.

I'll find away to make sense of it all, somehow. I tried butter coffee today. I'm struggling to see what the big difference between putting cream and butter in your coffee is. I'll be trying it with a little coconut oil in it tomorrow. Who knows, maybe this could do me some good. I've been limiting stuff like red meat so I'm not getting much in the way of cholesterol from meats. But the eggs every day.. that might be problematic. I don't know.

Date	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sun	scrambled eggs w/ bacon & fruit	sandwiches / leftovers	pizza
Mon	kids: cereal & fruit me: egg-bacon 'muffins' w/ toast and sugar free jam	Kids: school Hubby: noodle bowl, cornbread muffin, boiled egg Me: leftovers	hamburgers apple salad
Tues	kids: french toast sticks me: zucchini hash with egg and toast	Kids: school Hubby: chili & cornbread Me: soup & salad	pulled pork tacos refried beans salsa & guacamole
Wed	kids: cereal & fruit me: blueberry-egg bake & 1/2 muffin	Kids: school Hubby: Cuban sandwich bean burrito bowl (small) Me: taco salad	meatball stroganoff & salad
Thurs	kids: french toast sticks me: egg-bacon 'muffins' w/ 1/2 muffin	Kids: school Hubby: garlic bread pizza Me: leftovers	sweet-n-sour meatballs w/ barley tropical fruit salad kids: pasta & meatballs
Fri	kids: cereal me: blueberry-egg bake & toast	Kids: school Hubby: leftovers Me: leftovers	pork korma naan cucumber salad kids: ez mac or sandwiches
Sat	eggs, bacon & fruit	leftovers	rotisserie chicken roasted baby potatoes roasted brussels sprouts or broccoli

Menu plan, posting about menu planning, and deviating from the plan.

I have a new blog. I'm posting about the stuff I do to run my household. A lot of what I know I learned from my late grandmother and my mother. I have also been something of a nerd about it and researched ways to make things more effective. I may also be one of the few weirdos you know that will sit down and read a cookbook. (This past time has resulted in my learning a lot more about the culture of the 1950s than I really wanted. I'll write about that at a later time.)

This week's post was about menu planning. Then I deviated from my menu plan for this week today. As I mentioned in the post I linked to, I forgot to get out the chicken for dinner last night. So, when it was around noon, I checked on how my bird was thawing out. It was still a frozen brick. It was a slightly squishy potential murder weapon. Instead of roast chicken for dinner, it was sandwiches and soup.

The menu I had planned for this week was pretty basic.

Pizza night on Sunday, as per ususal.

Hamburgers and salad on Monday, again as per ususal.

Tuesday was tacos, but I had a taco salad because carbs in the tortillas were over 15 grams.

Today was supposed to be roast chicken with barley salad. It was instead sandwiches for the kids and meatball soup for Beloved and I.

Tomorrow is scheduled for split pea soup. I will be making chicken then because the damn bird will finally be thawed enough to go in the crock pot.

Friday is going to be pork korma for Beloved and I with some naan. The kids are getting pork chops and mac & cheese.

Saturday is a mystery. I had nothing figured out. If things go how I suspect they will, I'll probably be whipping something up out of leftovers. Like chicken stew. Or maybe chicken salad sandwiches, depending on if it is stupidly hot or not. The weather has me confused.