Atkilt Wot

After a full year of going through everything I own and only keeping what brings me joy, it's as good as finished. So currently I am going through my 38 year collection of recipes and cooking them one by one to see if it's a keeper or needs to go.

As I cook I enter each one into a recipe builder that calculates the calories per serving.

This one is a keeper. It's African Stew from some budget vegetarian cookbook I checked out of the library about 10 years ago. It's very cheap to make and delicious and, surprisingly, it turns out that whole plate is only 186 calories.

I always wondered about the name "African Stew". It's not stew and I didn't think it was African. 
That is until I went to Awaze, an Ethiopian restaurant downtown. Eating at Awaze was like being back in Africa. Exactly like being back in Africa. The restaurant opened half an hour later than posted, it took 40 minutes for our order to be taken, and an hour for the food to show up.

In Africa we had a family game of wondering what was happening back in the kitchen.
"Waiting for the hens to lay the egg?"
"Running to market to buy the lamb?"
"Harvesting.... no! Planting the carrots."
And that definitely applied to Awaza too. However, the food was the best I have ever tasted, maybe because I was eating lunch at 3pm, but it was amazing. And the best part? The Atkilt Wot we ordered is the same as my African Stew! 

I'm working on a sock yarn blanket. I had a few full skeins of gray and the scraps will be the pops of color. I thought about making the hexipuffs but chose Beryl Blanket because each hexagon is picked up and knit on without any seaming.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

The only thing anyone wants to do is lie in a pile of wool in front of the heating vent.

Galen and Sumi-e will brave their fear of running water and their distaste of each other to hang out in the only warm room in the house, the bathroom at bath time. I'm taking lots of long hot baths because I like to be warm too. 

First Snow

The first snow was on Wednesday with more today. There is nothing better than spinning on a snowy Saturday with a crock pot of tikka masala simmering in the kitchen. The whole house smells delicious. 

I finished a longstanding project of 958 yrds of dk weight spun from local fiber from deep deep stash. It's naturally colored Corriedale bought from a guild member in Manhattan KS way back in 1999. Ok, so local at the time. This beautiful fiber has moved with me across the country and back and is old enough to drive.

958 yrds will be enough for a vest or maybe a hat, mitten, scarf set to keep me warm in the snow.

In perfect timing for the snow I received a Christmas package from my mom of long underwear and fleece jammies. They are so cozy and warm and wonderful and too snugglely to take off. I love them.

Rain and Rainbows

Celebrating a year of owning my home. 

April showed the funny smell that wafted from my basement whenever it rained wasn't mildew from the damp or even Finn sneaking down to relieve himself on rainy days (sorry for thinking it was you Finn) but my sewer line. After a week of heavy rain it backed up into my basement and started a saga that ended with having it replaced. 2016 will be forever remembered as the year of the sewer line.

In July, Finn escaped from me a few minutes after I made him pose for this photo and was found hit by a car on the highway three days later. I miss you Finn.

I made an unwelcome lateral move in my company into a position that I don't enjoy that comes with no support and a pay cut. Financially the year was already hard, the sewer line drained my emergency fund, and this isn't something I've recovered from. I've given up trying.

A close friend is fighting cancer and it's grim. We all do what we can with everyday we have.

With all the rain there have been rainbows too.

 rainbow over stagnate pond found on a 7 mile walk at local nature preserve

A new puppy! It's refreshing having a blank slate with no baggage. It's almost worth the 4 months of potty training.  Almost.

Galen aka FinnJoeyGalen, has grown into a well behaved dog that doesn't touch my my yarn or chew books. (Ha! I wish)

But seriously, he is a good sport, always ready for any adventure, well trained, very smart, and loves showing off and learning a new tricks. His coat is very soft, he matches my floors, doesn't bark, but he does nibble on fingers like he is taste testing people. Over all, he's the perfect companion.

the best kind of rainbow
Supernatural Yarns. My favorite find of the year and local too. I've already started using them in my sock yarn blanket.

My day 200 photo. I'm tickled pink and quite pleased that I accomplished this. I'm smaller than....well....anytime is my adult life. As in I've never known myself to be this weight. Maybe 7th grade but we didn't have a scale at home so I'm guessing, but I'm smaller than I was at gym weigh in and rope climbing day in the 8th grade. Was it just me, or were those horrific for everyone?

rainbow over the school at sunset, found while running away from zombies 

While Galen needs just as much exercise as Finn, he is happier getting it from playing than running. This has allowed me time to join the high school's fitness center where I can go swimming whenever I want. I love it!