Who Is My Neighbour?

Jesus answered the man with a story…A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead…A priest, and a Levite passed him by…But a foreigner, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
Jesus asked the man "Which of these three was neighbour to the man who was robbed?"

Swallowing, Snorting, Rinsing, Spitting, MORE Swallowing...

 My 'health regime' is getting more and more complicated. I was managing OK with swallowing a few pills just after I wake, and before I go to sleep. And then I added into that the whole sinus saline snorting thing [it is helping, I was aware of that over Christmas when I went to Manchester without my kit] 
But then my dentist noticed problems with a gum infection around one molar.* 

Now I have to rinse&spit with another saline solution three times a day, and take a large antibiotic tablet ['swallow a glass of water each time, and do not drink any alcohol until at least two days after you've finished the course' said the Pharmacist 'otherwise you will have a very upset stomach']

I am diligently following all these instructions. If these extra things do not clear up the infection, it appears there may be some root canal work necessary...
*I have not had any toothache, for which I am extremely grateful. He just spotted the problem at my routine checkup on Wednesday.

Are You A Bag Lady?

Specifically, do you have an analogue bag ? [nb if you read TikTok, you may spell it analog] I came across this term recently. The idea is that many people would benefit from less time doomscrolling on their screens, and participating in activities which do not require a screen has positive effects on mental health and wellbeing.
So in order to do this, you prepare an analogue bag which you keep with you throughout the day, or leave by your armchair in the evening, so you always have a positive activity ready to hand. I first read about it here.

What's in your bag? well it could be a newspaper or paperback to read, a book of sudoku or crossword puzzles, a sketchpad and art materials, a piece of knitting or crochet, a small embroidery or quilting project... you get the idea. This will help prevent screen burnout.

The name comes from analogue as opposed to digital. Slow technology. I'm all for this idea - but I imagine many of you are reading this and muttering "this isn't a new thing, I've done that for years..."

I always take a book along when I am going to see the Doctor or Dentist. They call it the waiting room after all - so it is good to use that time doing something fun. Similarly long train journeys go so much better when you can finish your knitting or do some stitching. I know Kirsten and others make use of portable art kits. 
When the girls were small, they knew Mummy usually had a boredom bag to hand - containing a storybook, some paper and crayons, a couple of finger puppets, a toy vehicle, a small canister of bubbles. Liz and Steph have done this with their children. You do not need a large tote bag - just a few things inside a small zip bag, enough to work on a little project, rather than get out your phone and start tapping away.

We were given a lovely food hamper at Christmas, and I am thinking of designating that as my 'analogue basket' for the lounge. I've found a longterm knitting project I would like to work on. To have all the components tidily stored there, ready to bring out when I want to knit [and later in the year, carry outside to work in the summerhouse] would be useful. Such activities definitely contribute to the restoration  of a good state of mind, helping us to unwind, leaving the stress behind for a few moments. And because they are easy to pick up and put down again, this works well for those snatched minutes. We cannot all go for an hour's calming walk in the forest, or randomly take an afternoon out to work on the sewing machine - but these little interludes of creativity and joy can do so much good. Really old blog readers will remember that black and white film of a potter's wheel which the BBC used as a filler between programmes [you can find the whole 'interlude' series here] OK, that was on a screen, but it was a good 'time out' interval.
Do you have anything like an analogue bag already? 
What would you keep in it?
What would you put in a bag for the children?

Sew Christmassy, Sew Sparkly...

 

This is Kirsten's December patch. She used a piece of Christmas print fabric [I am sure I had a scrap like this, years ago] 
Each little rectangle has been overstitched with backstitch, running stitch, satin stitch etc. It has given this small square a wonderful dimensional quality, it is like a miniature quilt!
Wisely she avoided trying to stitch metallic threads, and worked around the parts of the design printed in gold, which emphasises their sheen. 
Having made so many attempts with metallic thread on my snowflakes, I think that was sensible. It does twist and knot alarmingly.
It is very Christmassy, what with the star, the tree, the gifts, a snowy windowpane and the conifers - as well as the hints of snowflakes, holly, a cracker, a crown, bunting and an elf's hat. So much detail in a piece no bigger than the palm of my hand. 

My flat gift for December was a lovely rust silhouette which may be hung in the greenhouse pro tem whilst I consider a permanent home for it
This is about 15cm high. It reminded me of the wonderful art work of Rob Ryan, which often features birds. 
Rob has recently published a book about his work, entitled "I thought about it in my head, and I felt it in my heart, but I made it with my hands" which ought to be a motto for handcrafters everywhere! 

Here's a lovely Rob bird design for Kirsten as we work at our collaborative stitching.
We are both late finishing the December piece- so our next 'swap date' will be Valentine's day. But I am not doing anything 'hearty' I have another idea which I need to work on...

Cut the Mustard!

Question -What foodstuff does this remind you of?
Answer- Pigs in Blankets!
A huge thankyou to Jean in France for sharing her recipe for cassoulet made with leftover Pigs In Blankets.

Mine looked pleasantly similar to the photo on J's blog, but a bit more orange! But it tasted really good - and the quantities for four served us two good meals. My Le Creuset was the right pan in which to cook and serve this hearty dish.

Yes Jean, as you warned, the bacon does unwrap itself from the chipolatas, but a genuine cassoulet will often have sausages plus separate chunks of pork. I put some carrot chunks in mine, and served with hearty slices of brown bread for 'mopping up' 
Warm and filling on a cold day. 

WARNING I checked out Mary Berry's original recipe [here] from which Jean adapted hers. MB adds a Dijon mustard and sage garnish to stir in at the end. As the sage is still growing happily outside, I decided to make some. Onto each bowl, I put a dollop of the golden sauce, flecked with chopped green leaves, and vivid lemon zest. "You are supposed to stir it in" I explained. It looked pretty. But it was way too mustardy, even for Bob! Next time, I shall be sure to cut [out] the mustard.
Allegedly, mustard crops in East Anglia used to grow to 6 feet high, and had to be scythed. If the blades were not sharp enough, then they wouldn't cut the mustard - not sure if I believe this explanation of the phrase, but I love the Norfolk connection

I picked up this little white beauty in the 50p bin in a CS on Monday.
I already have a blue Colman's jar for my English mustard, but I thought this white one from Essex would do beautifully for my French mustard. Liz gave me the tiny wooden spoon some years ago, hand carved by one of her friends.

Sadly Colman's, having been bought out by Unilever, stopped producing mustard in Norwich 6 years ago [after over 150 years] but the Wilkin family in Essex continue producing their preserves [the family have been farming there since 1757, selling preserves since 1885] 

Darned Good Inspiration At My Fingertips

During those cold days when I could not find my better, black gloves, I wore my old blue ones. They are cheap Poundshop 'Magic' gloves. I think I bought them one day when a visiting grandchild had cold hands. They fit either hand - but unfortunately the tips of the index fingers have worn through, and the thumbs are wearing thin. 

At first I thought I would just darn the fingertips, then it occurred to me - if I left them 'open' I would be able to unlock my phone and use it without removing my gloves. So I strengthened the thumbs, but stitched round the edge of the top of the fingers. Success!

Unlike the youngsters I know who type phone messages with their thumbs, I am very old fashioned and use my right index finger, for typing and biometric access. As both gloves have holey fingers, I don't need to worry when I put them on. You can probably buy access gloves like this premade on the internet somewhere. 

Winter Wonderland

Just after Christmas, I was going out in my car. It was completely frosted up. I sat in the driver's seat, and marvelled at the morning sun shining through the patterns on the windscreen. Isn't this lovely? I cleared it all away, then drove safely to the Supermarket. I decided my much delayed December TwoByTwo should be a snowflake pattern. I had some lovely deep blue satiny lining fabric on hand [I'd made Nick a Magician's Waistcoat] So I found some silver thread - thick and thin, beads and sequins, and some ice-blue embroidery floss.
I couched the thick threads into a 6 pointed star then added other stitches plus beads and sequins to give sparkle.
There are many types of snowflakes - mine are stellar dendrites, which means they are star shaped with tree like branches. 

I had started working on them before the snow came at the weekend. I went out to the bin on Monday and realised how cute my footprints were. I stomped around for a while making pretty patterns.

How crazy am I? But sometimes nature is amazing, isn't it? 
I could have used my embroidery machine, as I bought a set of snowflake patterns when I made my neighbour's Elsa dress three years ago ... The snowflake shapes were machined, but then over three hundred beads and sequins stitched on.  
But our TwoByTwo is strictly a hand sewn 'slow stitching' enterprise.
And as we are producing the patches two at a time, we will be finished double-quick!