Tag Archives: Daily Happenings

I wonder if I’ll manage to dye all of this? It seems a little overambitious but I’d rather have too much than not enough. I’m looking forward to the dye workshop at Gilead Fiber Farm this weekend.

I’m heading off to Vermont for a dye workshop weekend among friends and I need some mindless (or nearly so) knitting to take along. Enter “Leftie”. I’m using the merino yarn I spun from the roving my mother-in-law brought me from New Zealand and Tahitian Sunrise that was some sort of Spunky Eclectic roving. That should keep me out of trouble for a few days!

I didn’t quite meet my goal for Tour de Fleece but I did ply up the last dregs of BFL/alpaca on Monday for a total of 2500 yards (not all spun during the Tour). That should be plenty of yarn for White Pine, provided I can get gauge with this yarn.

As an early surprise for Jason’s birthday, I got him tickets for Summerfest by the Drink Craft Beer crew. It was a bit too last minute for him to get a friend to go with him so I went along. I can’t really drink beer but I was okay with just tiny sips. Mom says she has a problem with hops so maybe the mystery of what bothers me in beer is solved. Anyway, I think Jason really enjoyed it and it could be a nice annual gift, especially now that it doesn’t need to be a surprise and he can plan ahead with a friend who can enjoy it more.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening with my sister and her family. Jason gave Shadow a nice brushing and later we went to watch my niece run her first barrel riding race.

Yesterday we drove out to Elm Mott for lunch and a look around Homestead Heritage. There were lots of beautiful handcrafts and I came home with some goat milk soap and some seeds for the garden. We had a fabulous fancy dinner with Mom at Cacharel in Alington in the evening but I forgot to take photos there.

and a couple of  la de dahs…

Ina Garten’s Ultimate Ginger Cookies are really outstanding. Ginger is one of my migraine prevention tools so I’m always interested in trying new recipes that use ginger.

I always look forward to ham and white bean soup after Easter. This year’s ham was naturally raised instead of the spiral cut commercial ham we usually get. It was really delicious!

Ham, white bean and escarole soup

Add 1 pound dried white beans, a few bay leaves, and water to cover by about 3 inches to a large pot. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes then turn off and let sit at least an hour, covered. Bring back to a simmer and cook 30 minutes, add a ham bone and cook until beans are soft, about another 30 minutes or more depending on how fresh your dried beans are. Remove the ham bone and bay leaves. Pick off any meat from the bone, returning it to the pot. Add one head of escarole, washed and chopped, to the pot and simmer, covered, a few minutes until wilted. Taste and add seasonings if needed.