Happy Harvest Days

We don't really do Halloween because we don't like all the garish ghoulish goings on, but we do like that Halloween is the gateway to the holiday season and so we use it as a time to get in the spirit of holidays to come and a celebration of harvest time.

Amilia and I attended a harvest festival yesterday where she had fun riding ponies and adopting a t-rex balloon animal. The whole family enjoyed the harvest fesstival at our co-op where there was local beer and pretzel tasting, as well as apple tasting and fresh pressed apple juice tasting. They used an old-fashioned cider press that was really calling to Mr. Nature. He has been talking about picking one up one of these days.

Tonight, we enjoyed ourselves over homemade gluten free pizza, family movie: Kung Fu Panda, and organic dark chocolate chips for dessert.

I hope you had a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Dark Days

The last of the tomatoes are being pulled off the vine today and tomorrow - a few that are still green may redden up over the next week or so. Others that are green, but ripe enough to be edible will be made into fried green tomatoes for supper.

The weather has turned cold. The first dusting of snow was visible on the ridge across the way yesterday morning, and this morning the clouds bore a strong resemblance to snow clouds. I sit here now in a sweater and a warm poncho, leggings, socks, and fuzzy slippers.

My Sharing Our Gifts project this month is Hats for the Homeless of Minnesota. The estimate is that there are about 13,000 homeless in Minneapolis right now, and yesterday the winds were at 60mph and the overnight temperatures this week are in the high twenties to mid-thirties. That is COLD! We have had nights in the 32 -36 range this week, but I don't have to live outdoors. If you can make a hat for the project, PLEASE do so and send it on to:

Hats for the Homeless
First Universalist Church
ATTN: Catherine/UU Stitchers
3400 Dupont Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408 USA

The request is for WOOL because it is warmer and more insulating than synthetic fibers.

If you cannot make one, but you are among the 75ish% of the population who is still employed and can purchase a handmade wool hat for someone, PLEASE do so and send it to the address in this post. You can tag it "from Sharing Our Gifts" or you can leave it anonymous. It matters not to me, as long at those freezing people in Minnesota get at least the little bit of warmth that a warm woollie hat can provide. It doesn't have to break the bank; see below.

If you are really feeling generous, you can purchase this nice gray wool cowl from ennyrak on Etsy, and throw that in with your hat shipment. It is very affordable at $10.00, and would really make a difference for someone.Or, here is a black wool hat for $5.00 plus only $1.00 shipping.Or a gray man's wool hat for $12.00 plus shipping.
Just go to Etsy or any other site that carries handmade goods and search wool, hat, men's, and see what you find! (They need women's and children's hats as well, but have received more for them so far than they have for the men, so are especially requesting more men's hats, generously long enough to pull down over ears.)

Meanwhile, the crazy weather patterns are waging assaults all over the globe, and it certainly seems that we may be in for a severe winter this time around. Stay safe. Stay warm. Help anybody you can. You may one day be the one in need of help.

Hurdle Stitch

Once I have the full use of my hands again and can knit faster, I will show you a swatch or two, but I ran across something called Hurdle Stitch on Ravelry, and thought I would share, for those of you who knit and may not know it...

Work over an even number of stitches.
Rows 1 and 2: Knit
Rows 3 and 4: (K1, P1) across
Repeat rows 1 - 4.

Easy, peasy!

here is a link to a nifty pair of socks they call Jayne in a sort of hurdle stitch

Handmade Gifts: The $7 Gift Guide

Did you know that you have only 62 days left until Christmas? Wow! I have been planning, making, and setting things aside for some time now, but it is time to begin scouring handmade gift ideas in earnest, so...Here is "Shadowed Leaves," a bracelet from NovelBracelets.

Very affordable at $7.00 + $1.50 shipping in the US.

The Vandercook letterpress Art Deco small journal
$7.00 + $1.50 shipping in the US
The Small Notions Bag from The Unique Sheep
$7.00 + $2.50 shipping in the USSuper cute paisley Tooth Fairy Pillow from lilypadworkshop
$7.00 + $2.50 shipping in the US
Set of 6 Knitting Stitch Markers from ohmayzee
$7.00 + $2.00 shipping in the US
(I would love these! I can never
justify buying stitch markers
because bits of yarn (free) or rubber
gaskets from the hardware
store ($.20) work just fine.

Happy browsing...

I am thankful for...

My yarny fairy godmother, who strikes just when I need her most! Finger joint and tendinitis still getting me down, but this box of goodies from my wonderful yarn friend brightens my day.

Can't wait until I am feeling up to trying some knitting with these marvelous tweeds!

I am also thankful for my family, my relative good health, Deer Palace, and beautiful sunsets.

Last year on this day

I had just finished writing a hat pattern and sending off the hat to charity. I had plans to write the pattern down and publish it to pdf so I could share it all around.

This year on this day, all I have time to do is write about what I did last year on this day. I have not yet written the pattern for pdf because I had it written on some scrap paper, and it has been sorely misplaced.

This year on this day, I only have about four hours that belong to me, and those have been spent making a toy cardboard house for Elephant (or some other small animal in the toy menagerie here at Deer Palace), eating dinner (yummy potato soup from scratch, courtesy of Mr. Nature, the Deer Palace chef), cleaning up after dinner, changing the linens on the dining table, doing a load of laundry, ironing a shirt for tomorrow, having a family Latin lesson, writing a quick entry in my "health" journal, and telling you about last year on this day and this year on this day.

Last year on this day, there was knitting and going to town and taking photos and leisurely taking in the beauty of Autumn in our little village. This year on this day, there were only obligations. No knitting. No leisure. Only a teeny bit of breathing in the beauty of Autumn.

I am looking for my sunny outlook and youthful optimism. If you find them, please email for my address and send them on to me!

What could be better?

than a steaming cup of java
and two bowls full of cotton and silk yarn?...except endless time to drink and knit, and endless days of pain-free hands, wrists, and joints?

Snuggle up!

My hand is somewhat better, and Mr. Nature is back to normal after the wasp sting, but I am still taking it easy. Until I am back in full swing, I share with you some images from our recent days here at Deer Palace.

The porch swing cushions are soon to be back in storage, but we are taking full advantage of their last days on the porch by snuggling together on them under fluffy, warm, soft, comfy blankets and throws. We snuggle there together and watch the sun set, and talk of all things that really matter, such as the color of the leaves and the sound of the wild geese overhead...

We fragile human forms...

Sorry...can't blog. Mr. Nature is down with wasp sting...and I am down with Computer Mouse Finger (bursitis/tendinitis in my right index finger/joint).

What a pair we make since yesterday! Yesterday, no soup because wasp sting kept Mr. Chef from the kitchen, so I had to be in charge of our evening repast. We had baked potatoes topped with green peas, sour cream, Himalayan salt, organic pepper, turmeric, cumin, organic paprika, and organic scallions from our garden, together with a green salad topped with olives and feta cheese. My finger was not as bad yesterday as it is today.

Today, we had pizza take-out. Hopefully, soup week will resume soon...

[Spiced] Red Lentil and Coconut Soup

Soup season has returned! Last night, we had one of my favorite soups; spiced red lentil and coconut soup. MMMMMmmmmm! It uses just enough spice to have a kick without being overpowering.

2 tbsp sunflower oil or coconut oil
1 red onion, chopped
1/8 tsp cayenne (or a smidge, or just a tad, or a sprinkle...this is all discretionary!)
3 small garlic cloves, minced (garlic I grew this year!)
1-inch piece of lemongrass, outer leaves removed and inside finely sliced
1 cup of red lentils (really, you can use whatever type of lentil you choose...each will give a slightly different outcome)
1 tsp ground coriander (this was exciting because I used coriander that I grew in my herb garden last year, ground with a mortar and pestle)
1 tsp paprika (organic, that I purchased in bulk)
1 2/3 cups coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
3 scallions (green onions), chopped
1 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a deep stainless steel frying pan. Add onions, garlic, and lemongrass. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring as needed, until the onions are soft and have a clear look.

Add the lentils and spices. Pour in 3 3/4 cups water and stir. Pour in the coconut milk and stir. Add 1/4 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil, stir, then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until lentils are soft an mushy. (I cooked without a lid and stirred about every 5 minutes to keep from sticking or scorching.)

Once the lentils are fully cooked (after about 40 minutes) reduce heat all the way to the lowest setting, just enough to keep it warm for serving. Pour in the lime juice and add (most of) the scallions and cilantro, reserving just a few for garnish. Season as desired with salt/pepper and garnish with cilantro and scallions.

I used all organic ingredients. I served with a crusty baguette, sliced and toasted with butter on my Wagner cast iron griddle.

This coming week is soup week...stay tuned!