It seems like every couple of years I buy a new sourdough starter and start again after neglecting my previous starter to the beyond icky stage. Above is the new fresh starter all bubbly and ready to go. I wish you could smell the delicious sour smell. I think I’ll start with a couple of loaves of bread this afternoon. It’s rainy and gray here today so some nice warm bread will go great with dinner.
Yesterday The Husband, N and I went on a little day trip. We decided to take a ride up to the King Arthur Flour store in Vermont. If you haven’t been to their web site go ahead and click over there. I’ll still be here when you’re done. When there I picked up a new pie pan (a heavy metal one that I hope will improve the soggy bottom my pie crusts tend to get in glass pans), a new sourdough starter to replace the long neglected one in my refrigerator, a packet of French bread starter and a gingerbread scone mix. From there we stopped at the Four Aces Diner in West Lebanon NH for lunch. It was very good and worth every one of the four stars they have on yelp. Over lunch we decided to stop at The Vermont Country Store on the way south and we decided where we would stop for dessert.
Dessert is where the photo comes in. Last week Yarnydragonfly emailed to tell me about the NH Ice Cream Trail. She’s an excellent enabler when it comes to yarn and ice cream. When we stopped at the rest stop on route 89, an amazing place for photos if one remembers when they’re looking out the window, I picked up the passport. In the car we discussed which place would be out first stop. The photo above is from our second stop. Yes, we had two desserts. First we went to Connolly Brothers Dairy Farm in Temple. It’s off the beaten path and then down a bit of a dirt road. This is real old fashion NH. We were greeted by the farm dog and cat as we walked over to the farm store. They had a freezer with prepackaged ice cream and another with meat. After a few minutes the farmer pulled up in his tractor and we picked out 3 single serve containers of ice cream and paid. The ice cream (we had strawberry, blueberry and black raspberry) was amazing! It was so creamy and flavorful. After we made our way back to the main road we decided to go to one more place. There are 44 stops on the ice cream trail so in order to hit them all by the end of the season we had to double up. Our second spot was Charlie’s Olde Tyme Creamery in Peterborough. Imagine our surprise when we learned they serve Connolly Brothers ice cream! The Husband ordered graham central station and I got coffee Oreo. N passed. He was full. These flavors were equally as delicious as the first. On the way home we were plotting how we can possible hit the remaining 42. We know 41 one of them are totally doable. We’re a little concerned about the one that is nearly 5 hours from our house. That one might require an overnight stay.
Thank you for your good thoughts for our patient.
Myles is home. He was beyond excited to see us when we picked him up. His teeth are shiny clean and his breath much better. He spent the evening resting and should be back to his normal crazy self in a day or two.
The photo has nothing to do with the post. We were at the cemetery the other day and I thought this view was striking. This is the civil war section in a city near where we live. I think the soldiers and their families would be pleased to know that they are not forgotten.
Now, the discombobulation. The Camp Loopy July assignment was announced today and I can’t decide what to knit. The requirement is to knit a pattern from a designer who has 3 or more pages of patterns on Ravelry. Since I am working on my 400 yard project now, my July project has to be either 600-800 yards or 800+ yards. I spent hours on Ravelry looking at various options but nothing hit that right spot. These are the two that I feel ok about You’re Beautiful and Clara. There really isn’t a yarn jumping out at me either so I haven’t been able to go at things backwards. I’m going to give it a day and spend a little time looking some more. Suggestions would be appreciated.
Myles is at the vet today having his teeth cleaned. It’s kind of a big thing with anesthesia and everything. If you could think good thoughts he’d appreciate that and a big bowl of food. He’s a guy that plans his life around his meals so not getting breakfast was a cruel blow. He’ll make up for it at dinner tonight I’m sure.
I have completed the first 3 parts of the pattern and I’m ready to start the final one. I’m very pleased with the pattern, Coral Tides. I’m hoping I get a good way into the darker section of yarn before I reach the binding off point. There are about 35 rows to go and they keep getting longer so there is a good chance it will happen.
I’ve been considering projects for July. I won’t be able to make a decision until I know what the requirements are but I have a few to choose from.
I have a love/hate relationship with nature. I love the furry and feathered animals. I tolerate the scaly ones. I love pretty flowers and majestic trees. I hate the pollen that makes me miserable. What I don’t like is when the animal and plant worlds collide in my yard. One of the cute fuzzy bunnies decided that the petunias that I placed in a pot on the front steps were a snack. All the pretty flowers are gone! The leaves are untouched so hopefully that means more buds and flowers will appear. There are more tasty snacks around the yard so hopefully the bunny will find something else to eat and leave this pot alone.
I don’t know that this is exactly lace. How do you define lace? I consider lace to be “a fabric with intentional holes”. By that definition this does qualify. Normally lace drives me crazy. It’s multiple rows making up one repeat where there are multi stitch repeats in each row that tends to tax my already tired brain. This bit of lace is easy. It’s a four row repeat made up of two different rows with only a slight variation. It’s easy enough to remember. I just have to know which row I’m on and off I go.
For the past few years I’ve passed on so many patterns because I didn’t want to add stress to my life. Avoiding stress is something I’ve prioritized. What stress I have is more than enough. I don’t need it from my hobby too. But now I’m wondering if judging lace by how it looks has caused me to miss a few dozen patterns that are simple, straightforward and stress free. I guess I’ll have to give them a second look.
