infryq

Yesterday was a very chill Christmas. We had breakfast together, M and P took their traditional excursion to Dunkin Donuts to tip the workers heavily, M and D went for a walk. I finished a handkerchief for T. In the afternoon we all played scrabble, board score 496, very respectable for four players. M’s A had sent two embroideries to give out, and I delivered the sachets. Extended family has sent a very nice holiday lap quilt and some molasses cookie packed in marshmallows. M and P put a fire in the fireplace. Dinner was lamb shanks and couscous for them, and red lentil pin oat stew for me. More fire and family time with nibbles afterwards; P and I played the type game until we got stuck. I played a round of Paperback while M let the fire burn down. Snack, sleep. Dreams about conditioning drills, roasting potatoes in home ec, an underground tunnel complex subverting the security of a vault, a mischievous pair of children.

Yesterday I got most of P’s data into the xmas letter, cut handkerchief blanks from some of the spare flannel shirting, cleared away the wrapping detritus from the dining room table, and started packing. Washed the socks so they’d have time to dry. Finished Going Rogue and started book four, Siege Tactics. Got hilarious texts from T, whose cats are out of their minds with the sachets. There’s no catnip in them but they are powerfully herbal. Did the crossword, snuggled a bunch, sewed a quick cover for my thread snips from some scrap canvas, mended the torn-out pocket in P’s pj pants. Dinner, opened the stuff from mom (cute cable protectors! snacks! sloth!), Voyager, snack, sleep.

Yesterday I finished wrapping gifts for my folks, made tags, packed a box, then thankfully remembered to ask T whether he’ll be in Kingston for the holidays or whether I should ship him his stuff directly. I got another couple months into the prep for the xmas letter. I baked the nut and seed bars. I started reading the next book in the Swords Spells and Stealth series, Split the Party. It is glorious. Lunch was fine, dinner was dubious while cooking but it all worked out. Crossword(nasty SW corner), Voyager, snack, sleep. Dreamt of parades, cabin camping, driving through wee neighborhoods, fast food.

Yesterday I washed my hair again, since Tuesday’s wash was unsatisfactory. The new product I’m using seems to require a ton of it to actually saturate my hair; I’m not sure I’ll stick with it. Smells nice though.

After lunch we started the Thanksgiving machine. P made bread, quince, pita, and tabbouleh to take to R’s. I made roasted root veg (turnip sweet potato rutabaga parsnip potato) and stuffed the middle eastern pumpkin with wild rice, lentils, millet, almonds, pecans, dried cranberries, dried apples, golden raisins, and red bell pepper, spiced with cumin, cinnamon, coriander, and saffron. Parcooked the grains and lentils for fifteen minutes first and parbaked the pumpkin, open, for forty, then mixed stuffed closed and roasted the whole thing for an hour. Worked great. Tons of leftovers of course (i am smol) but not mad about that at all.

P had a good time at R’s, and I had a good time at home with Voyager. Put two loads of dishes through the dishwasher. Talked to mom on the phone. A good holiday.

Yesterday I fixed some suboptimal areas of piping on the chair seat cover, put the cushion in, and installed it in the chair. Quite pleased. Echoes of Betrayal is good; the characters I like are getting their comeuppance. I made another batch of nut and seed bars, but made them chewy this time and am not sure I like them. Lunch and dinner were both difficult. I’m getting more sensitive to smell. It is the way of the dark season, but knowing it will get better in February is only helps so much. Ordered a pH-neutral natural deodorant. Instagram ads are millennial QVC. Looked for a vest fitting my constraints (sweater weight, minimal synthetics, machine washable, tunic length, pockets, cool brown) but like. Most sites have maybe three vest styles at all, let alone anything of the right weight and fiber content. I find myself at the wrong end of the dubious mercy of the fashion cycle. I don’t want to knit one, and there’s the same scarcity problem with fabrics I might sew one out of. I’m not desperate enough to buy something in the wrong color and dye it yet but we’ll see.

My cousin B and his spouse got a sewing machine and asked me for advice, so I put together a small list of resources for them. It was fun! I hope they stick with it.

I ripped out and redid some of the embroidery sampler rows several times and am fairly happy with it now. Double feather stitch, double herringbone, and an interlocking trio of closed loop? stitch.

Dinner, crossword, Elementary, snack, sleep. Dreamt of gym class: basketball, volleyball and badminton, for whatever reason. Xena Warrior Princess was there.

health

Yesterday I stay-stitched the yoke, and I’m not sure about the results. A
lot of bubbling, and while it eventually all pressed out, it looks pretty
asymmetrical. I might have to cut another and stitch it over paper to keep
the shape, or underline it permanently with something more stable. I
prototyped a rolled hem, and it looked fine, but when I went to duplicate
the process on the actual pattern piece it refused to cooperate. I wound up
picking it out, and with thread that’s stronger than the fabric I had to do
it one stitch at a time. Not a great sewing day. The masonry guys started
work, so all the windows stay closed during the day and there’ll be brick
dust all over the herb garden this week. I finished Hanging Tree and
started Lies Sleeping. I’m enjoying the design of a new department; the
slow flywheel of people and systems.

Lunch, then work was good; I fixed and committed two sets of bugs and a
third is ready to commit later this morning. I shipped the return to
True&co, and took my snack to the little wooded picnic table behind the
glossy snowman.

Once home I did a turn through the garden and picked blackcurrants and what
is probably the last of the snow peas. The radishes are nearly ready and
could probably use some water. Dinner was a second draft of the previous
one, this time using “fry on low heat with the lid on” instead of my usual
“boil until thickened” and it was a good call. Prepped the blackcurrants
for the freezer, which makes a full quart. I might call that sufficient and
leave the rest for the birds.

Crossword, Legends, Room, snack, sleep.

G update: Welp, when they take him off the hard meds, the heart issues
start up again, so no rehab center for him yet. D is struggling with
anxiety spirals.

health

Yesterday I finished the back yoke seam, felled the side seams, tested out
a few approaches to a rolled hem, and hemmed the back. I’m using a 4mm
rolled-hem foot, staystitching in the hem allowance. It’s not magic but it
seems to work out okay if you pay attention and go slow. For future
iterations I’ll probably hem them before doing up the side seams.

I went to the farmers market and got asparagus, cauliflower, cabbage,
shishito peppers, parsley, and coriander, and a sourdough salted dark
chocolate cookie.

Home, cut the cauliflower into planks, roasted in the oven for a half hour
at 375, flipping once. Had brie and sesame crackers for lunch. Did laundry;
clothes and towels. Surreal folding a load of only my clothes. Cleared off
the back porch in prep for the masonry guys tomorrow. Found a bunch of olla
demos and red clay, an abandoned mouse nest, a much more pleasant and very
cozy abandoned nuthatch nest, trashed a bunch of stuff. Don’t let me clean
your place exhausted unless you’re interested in a more Buddhist way of
life. Cookie for snack; was really pleased with past-me for that.

P called; I made dinner out of Priya’s new book, sorta, worked out well.
Mustard seeds and curry leaves, turmeric, ground coriander seed, and winter
squash was the base, but I added red lentils for protein, chopped prunes to
replace the caramelized onions, and some of the roasted cauliflower. Enough
leftovers for a couple lunches.

Finished Moon Over Soho and started Whispers Under Ground. He’s getting
better at writing women.

G update: everybody’s tired. He’s off the opiates, which is good, but still
coughing, which hurts, not so good. T and M just came up for the afternoon,
not to stay. Some of D’s folks might come up later this week to help.

Yesterday I took apart the back yoke and center back seams, removed the
temporary zipper, picked out buttons, designed the placket, cut bias
strips, and started binding the neckline. I had some executive function
issues after my shower, and missed the shuttle, just barely missed the bus,
and caught the 12:15 shuttle instead. P texted to say he was hanging with C
and see if I was en route, but the issues I’ve been having with cellular
data apparently extend to iMessage as well and I couldn’t convince my phone
to use SMS instead. Called to coordinate. Lunch with P and C, then spent
most of the afternoon on theo bugs and a bit on trying to run wiki backups
on the server. Things kept hanging; I suspect more issues with the NAS.
Grrr.

Stolen continues; the reader is getting more into it and the characters are
all darling. Kam is a bit flighty but genuinely likes people and manages to
be intensely trusting without taking any bullshit. (...personal
aspirations) There’s a lot of trite shorthand in the writing that could be
conveyed more naturally, which feels weird next to the deftness of both the
individual characterizations and the relationships. Hoping to see the
former develop more in later books; authors learning to write is always
fascinating.

Home, dinner, crossword, Flash, snack, sleep. P heard from his folks; his
mom is exhausted and M is going to stick around until P gets there.

Yesterday I had breakfast, shower, finished packing, took Ativan. Called
gma to see if she was up; she was, so we stopped in to drop off the stuff
from aunt K and say goodbye. Then, airport. First flight was fine but
delayed. We had a long enough layover in ORD that we were fine for the next
flight, though P didn’t get to go to the tapas place he’d been looking
forward to. Second flight was fine. Listened to a bunch more Space Opera.
Drive home had some weird traffic at Carnegie but was ultimately fine. Took
in the mail, which included my passport! Very exciting; now I can go to
Canada again without having it be a one-way trip. No snack, just sleep.

Yesterday we went to a cute coffee shop for breakfast with my folks.
Afterwards, mom went to visit with gma for a bit, and I washed my hair and
P went for a walk. Mom and dad headed back to Kingston around eleven, and P
and I had lunch at Chaco. I read a bit more of the shirtmaking book, had a
nice nap, then we walked up the hill to hang out with gma. My aunt K and
uncle D were still around, so we all told stories for a few hours. I showed
gma the embroidery, and she was very pleased, and explained how to finish
the edges with crochet lace. I’ll be taking it back to pgh with me for
that. She also explained her pattern for the nylon scrubbies she makes (11
yards of tulle cut in 4” wide strips; ch4, join, 2sc in each st/circ
increases until 20 sts around, slst 1 rnd, dc every other st to close). We
had dinner with her in the cafeteria, then hung out and watched South
Pacific. I don’t think I’d ever seen it before; the ending was a bit
dissatisfying so my headcanon is that instead, all the women move in
together and live happily ever after.

We walked back down the hill at 9 and I did a snack and bedtime routine and
sleep.