Saturday, April 28, 2012

Letter to the Dormouse Regarding Carrot Soup

Dear Fat Dormouse Getting Thinner:

Thank you very much for the recipe I found here on your blog.  I did want you to know that it was quite delicious.  But somehow, cooking times did not equate at high altitudes.  Your recipe called for cooking the vegetables for about 20 minutes after the liquid came to a boil.  I was extremely hungry when I began soup preparation, just so you know.

So after cooking the onions, carrots and sweet potatoes for 55 minutes in the chicken stock, and flavoring with a Tbsp. of orange marmalade (the grocery shopping elves had not picked up any orange juice by noon today), I hoped it was ready.  I zuzzed it all together, and put it in my favorite poppy mug.  Can you see the steam?  No?  It was there, believe me.

(knitters please note that those are Hermione's Everyday Socks on the needles)

I was too hungry to make it pretty with a little parsley on top for garnish.

Anyway, thanks again Dormouse,
Nancy

P.S.:  the roof of my mouth got burned while sipping the soup because I did not want to wait for it to cool (did I tell you I was hungry?)

P.P.S: I drank the soup and had Weight Watchers popcorn with the soup and it was extra delish

Friday, April 27, 2012

KnitCompanion and the Holden Shawl

Here is a shawl I finished yesterday, with the help of a new app for my iPad.  The app is called KnitCompanion and can be found here, or on iTunes for a download.  There is a Ravelry group where you can get lots of help, and it is here.  I tried it out, and will definitely use it for all my pdf knitting patterns.  The learning curve was fairly fast, and I went through the YouTube videos in one morning.

Now for the Holden Shawl, a free download by Mindy Wilkes found here.



KnitCompanion allows different crops and ways to put knitting instructions together in the manner YOU want, making reading instructions easier by far.  Try it.  You will probably like it.

(above photo from It's About Time)


Participating in Paint Party Friday found here!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Husband's Weekend Work

Bark and a lot of it: 17 square yards that had to be spread out over the front and back areas between grass, shrubs and flower beds:



Before and after pictures with at least 1/4 of the bark still remaining after the work of the weekend.

And on a lighter note, the iris are blooming in our flower beds!


What's blooming in your yard?

(image from art in red wagons)