Lemon Soap And Pattern Weights

So much for being a monogamous crafter! Two non-crochet projects have been started and completed today. 

I do like a nice little bit of lemon soap. It smells so fresh and clean.

Rose is another fragrance I rather love. Interestingly, it is not something the Beloved can smell! 

I've also made from pattern weights from some scraps of fabric I picked up last summer at the Quilters Guild.

Monogamy in Crafting

In the past, I have been a person with multiple projects on the go. This often resulted in multiple (many multiples) of UFOs waiting to be completed. But, this have appeared to change regarding the Temperature Blanket. Since starting on the 17th of April, I have put it aside once to finish a hat. Just the once, and only because I had set myself a goal of finishing two hats this month. Which reminds me, I have second hat waiting to be finished. I shall do that today, and get it out of the way, leaving tomorrow totally free.

It does feel odd being so monogamous though. I can't think of a time when I have been so focused on one project. There will be a concious uncoupling soon though. As soon as I've finished the rows for April I will put the blanket aside. It will be a third done, and even a third of a blanket is a bit much to be sitting under at this time of year. The blanket shall be set aside for colder days.

What Can I Blog About?

Some days I have an exuberance of ideas, and on days like today, I can't think of a thing to write about. I was saying to the Offspring, "What have I done today?" and realised the answer was I lay in bed, playing games on my Kindle, and then went to work. Not a terribly exciting day.

I was then asked if I had wiggled my butt. I hadn't, so I did. "Anything else?" I asked. "Yes, wiggle your butt a bit more." Oh dear! My next question was "When can I stop wiggling my butt?" And the answer: "When you have an idea!" (I am going to have a well toned bum from all of this butt wiggling!)

Temperature Blanket Charts

Chart for April

I've just realised it would be a huge deal easier to have an on-line pictorial guide for each month rather than a text list on one device.

I've no idea why I'm posting the previous charts as I don't actually need them, but they are here for completeness.

Chart for March

Chart for February

Chart for January

Covid-19 Update

We're now on our seventh day where there have been no new cases of Covid-19 identified, and only four in the last fifteen days. There's now no one in hospital with it, and only three recovering in the community. And, all of this despite quite a number of shops re-opening, tradespeople returning to work for non-emergencies, and all sorts of other things. I was worried the lifting of the various restrictions were happening too soon, but it seems to be working.

I'm currently feeling the safest I have since all of this started. I'm sure the virus is out in the community, bubbling along, but it's at a very low level, and it doesn't seem to be a problem.

There are some discussions about adding a few categories to people who can cross the border. Currently, it's only essential workers who have received written permission from the government, and Manx residents being repatriated. The suggestions are to allow people to travel to see those who are terminally/critically ill, and to attend funerals. On return to the island, these people would be required to self-quarantine. To be honest, I'd much rather the first group of people to be allowed off, and then back on, island are those in need of medical treatment.

My First Tatties

Look! Look! LOOK!

These are a very first potatoes I have eve grown. I took some potatoes, stuck them in a ventilated bucket, covered then with a layer of soil, and then forgot about them until green shoots came up. Another layer of soil was added, followed by more forgetting. (Lather, rinse, repeat.) Et viola! I now have tatties!

Can you tell I'm a little excited?!

A Throwback Cake

A Facebook memory from five years ago surfaced, and I realised I didn't have a picture of this cake on my blog. As I rather like this cake design, I wanted to include it.

It was brilliant seeing people's reaction to the cake. Many little heads turned to stare at the cake. Older people broke into smiles. Some people thought it was made from PlayDoh. Others thought it was a couple of stacked cake tins, and were very happy to be wrong.

It's a very simple design, but such fun.

IronMay 2020

As usual, the intentions are firmly in place, but the body is weak, so very weak. So far, I've had a migraine, and my joints had seized, and that by Day 3!

Day	Time	Exercise	Total
1	10m	cycling	10m
3	75m	walking	1h 25m
4	60m	cleaning	2h 25m
8	55m	walking	3h 20m
9	60m	walking	4h 20m
9	5m	cycling	4h 25m
10	60m	walking	5h 25m
11	35m	walking	6h
12	15m	housework	6h 15m
12	25m	walking	6h 50m
13	30m	walking	7h 20m
15	70m	walking	8h 30m
16	60m	walking	9h 30m
18	120m	working	11h 30m
19	60m	working	12h 30m
20	60m	working	13h 30m
21	30m	working	14h
23	120m	working	16h
25	80m	walking	17h 20m

DONE!

Temperature Blanket January To March 2020

At last! I am a quarter of the way through the Temperature Blanket. Two sections have been ripped back as my ability to make straight edges was rather wobbly. However, I'm a quarter done.

Brenda The Weather God

This is a true story from when my children were little. 'Little Noodle' would have been around 4 or 5. They were full of wonder, and full of questions. The story started when we were travelling home from a trip to the mountains, across the high moorland. I was in the back seat of the car with Little Noodle.

The wide open skies have grown dark over the last few minutes, and suddenly there is a sharp report of thunder directly overhead. Little Noodle eyes fly open wide, and a little gasp escapes. My child buried themself deep into my side. "Mammy, what was that?!" a tiny voice asked. Cuddling my frightened child, I reply, "It's just thunder, Little Noodle. It's nothing to be frightened of." Little Noodle doesn't seem quite sure. "What is thunder? And why is it so loud?"

Thunder: the sudden increase in pressure and temperature caused by lightning producing rapid expansion of the air within and surrounding the path of a lightning strike. This in turn causes the expansion of air, and creates a sonic shock wave.

Is that the correct way to explain 'thunder' to a little child? Perhaps not.

"Well, my dear, let me tell you a story to help explain thunder. High up in the sky, way beyond the clouds, so high up we can't see, there is a weather god called Brenda. Some gods make decisions by tossing a coin, by playing with dice, but not Brenda. She has a huge, giant pool table in the sky, and when she is working out what sort of weather to create she plays a game of pool."

"Pool tables have six pockets. On Brenda's pool table there's a pocket for sunshine, wind, snow, fog, storms and rain. However, this is no ordinary pool table. Ordinary tables have pockets all the same size, not Bredna's. And, Brenda's table is on a bit of a slant. This is why we get so much rain, because the balls all roll down towards it. Thunder is what happens when the balls are rolling and crashing into each other." A calmer child lifts their face to mine, and says "Oh! Okay. … Can we have fish and chips for dinner?" Panic averted. A cute story has taken away fear.

a few days later …

I ask, "Noodle, please go outside and see if we will need raincoats today." The Little Noodle brings over their breakfast dishes to me, then heads outside. Stopping on the doorstep, Noodles eyes search the heavens. Seeing dark clouds, and a light drizzle of rain, a little angry fist is raised, and Little Noodle shakes it at the sky, "BRENDA!"

The moral of this story is "Be careful when you tell your children cute little stories."

Migraine

Ouch!

Migraines are not just a headache. They are debilitating monsters who turn sounds in huge blaring attack, light into a relentless over saturation, and smells into an olfactory assault.

And, according to the image search on Google, it's is overwhelmingly a female problem. On the first page of results, there's 96 photographs of emails, 2 with a male and a female, and 9 males. It's also a problem of white people between 20 and 40!

I'm so glad I have medication, and could take to my bed this afternoon. The sleep did me a great deal of good. I'm still a trifle 'drunk', and my balance is not at all good. My family is also rather wonderful, and are so helpful at such times.

Habitica Changes

Habitica is proving to be a very effective tool for me. I can add, or change, habits, dailies, and to-dos very simply. There are a few item I have moved around. There is a danger of this becoming a huge, huge list, and my aim is to have lots of little jobs I can tick off easily, just to rack up points. This approach would not do me any favours.

My goal is to use Habitica to establish habits, and create a series of reminders for the things I need help remembering to do. I no longer need (at least I don't think I need) prompts to keep my side table clear, and to do a load of laundry. These have been replaced with some other things instead, like a daily for sweeping the kitchen floor, and weeklies for washing the floor and emptying waste paper baskets.

I'll see how it goes, and make modifications as needed.

Tidy Table

I have a tendency to 'nest'. Over time stuff gathers around my chair or desk until I can't find things, or it infuriates me.

Habitica has enabled me to keep track, and remind myself to tidy my workspace, and it is working well. However, there's still quiet a few items I want close by. I had placed a foot stool under my side table, and had placed the knitting case, crochet case, needle case, needle threader, thread, tape measure, USB cord, and hand cream on the foot stool. It looked a mess!

One lovely dark brown, wooden, tray later, and everything has a place. It now looks contained, considered, and … is 'curated' too strong a word. Let's ditch 'curated', and just say I am happy to have the tools I need close by, and stored in a very tidy fashion.

Various minimalists and interior designers have been talking about how useful trays are. They define a space, and give the message "This a collection, not a random assortment of junk." And, it has worked. The space is nicely defined. Items aren't going to slide off the foot stool, and everything has it's place. I like it!

Habitica For The Win

Woo hoo! I'm doing it.

Habitica is doing a fantastic job of keeping me on track. I'm managing to take my Vitamin D each day, along with exercising, keeping my table tidied, drinking more water and crocheting the temperature blanket.

For doing those wonderful things I have been given a bardic cap and gown. No tight spot is too tight for me. I can now sing myself out of trouble. And, I have a pet tiger club. These are good.

First Day Back

I am so tired, SO tired!

Today was the first day back after the lockdown. We were allowing two customers in the shop at one time. There was a steady steam of customers, as well as several telephone orders. It was busy! Very busy.

I'll sleep well tonight!

Dining Room into Office

The dining room had morphed into a 'stuff it in there, and we'll put it away properly at some point room' as well as being the space where we store items being given to charity shops. It was the place where I sewed and quilted. Now, it's the Beloved's office during the week. At this moment, it's where he is putting together a wooden model.

It has a laminate floor, and his office chair was slipping. This morning I bought a rug to prevent 'wandering chair syndrome'. I had looked online, and checked stock levels regarding a particular run in a dark mottled teal. When I saw it in the shop it was very obvious the pile was far too long for an office chair to roll over it. However, the chosen rug has colours that tone in with the curtains, and the art in the room, as well as having a suitable pile for a chair to run over it.

After 2 months working from home, we've changed the room around to reflect its new purpose. Instead of the table being in the middle of the room, it's up against a wall. It means the clutter is now at his back, and he doesn't have it in his vision all day. It also gives more space. The dog has discovered the space, and the new rug, and has decided she should spend time there.

By creating space, I can more easily get in and perpetrate decluttering. It feels good to be back to decluttering. I like restoring order. If only I could get my head around maintaining order too!

I've just realised the rug is the first non-consumable I have bought in 2 months! (I'm counting wool as consumable though - it is consumed by the knitting/crochet process, and useful items pop out of the other end.)

Picnic Time

We seem to be developing a Saturday morning routine of walking along the closed section of road on Marine Drive. It's an absolutely stunning section of coastline, and hidden for most of the journey from 'civilisation'.

Last week the sea was almost black, with white streaks on top of the rolling waves. Today it was incredibly still, and the sunshine caused the turquoises of the waters to sparkle.

As we were approaching the end of the closed section I had a sudden hankering for a picnic. Every meal we have eaten in the last two months has been in the house, and I desired a bit of al fresco dining. A picnic was just the thing. However, this was going to prove difficult as we had no food, drinks or picnic supplies.

We sat on a small headland and played 'let's pretend'. The Beloved asked for coffee (check) and a cheese and ham sandwich. Unfortunately, I'd packed cheese and pickle for him and a gf chicken wrap for me. Things got a little messy when we got to the potato salad, and coleslaw. I'd forgotten the forks! Picnics are tricky to get just right.

Back To Work On Monday

Many Manx shops will be re-opening on Monday, the shop where I work will be one of them. Lots of safety measures need to be put in place to keep the shop as safe as we can manage, whilst still allowing staff and customers inside the door! I'm a bit worried for myself, and also our customers, but hopefully, the measures put in place will keep the risks to a low level.

A door that is normally blocked off has been re-opened, allowing us to have separate doors in and out. Only two customers will be allowed in the shop at any one time. The doors will be kept locked, except when allowing customers in an out. Everyone must sanitise their hands on entry, and we are encouraging people to use contactless payment where possible.

I've posted on Facebook, and our customers are delighted. Hopefully they will be sensible and not all try to come into the shop at 10am on Monday!

Temperature Blanket 2020 - Jan & Feb

January and February have been completed.

Lavender is used for the days when the high temperature has been 6-8°C, aubergine for 9-11°C, and lapis for 12-14°C.

March will have seven lavender rows, 21 aubergine, and three lapis.

The Most Important Thing!

I've just learned the most important little noise in Morse, dit, di, di-dit. It is TEA! Yippee and huzzah for dit, di, di-dit.

Morse Step Two

To keep things simple, I'm going to start with the first six letters, E T I A N M.
E: .
T: -
I: ..
A: .-
N: -.
M: --

WordFinder list 103 words that can be spelt with the letters E T I A N M. Not all of these would be considered English words in other fields, eg one of the words is 'amnt'. This is either a contraction of 'amount', or it's a contraction (san apostrophe) of 'am not'. Either way, it's a useful little word to use in practise.

The two letter words that can be made from these first 6 letters are: aa, ai, am, an, at, em, en, et, in, it, ma, me, mi, na, ne, ta, te, and ti. I'm just trying to build up a few patterns, and getting used to the dots and dashes.

A useful website is Morse Code world.

Training To Be A Spy

A number of years ago, I decided to teach myself to read upside down. This was done by sitting on the bus, reading. It was great fun when people commented, "Your book's upside down." I would smile sweetly at them and reply, "Yes, I know. I'm training to become a spy."

Now it feels like the time is right to begin phase two of spycraft, learning Morse Code.

The explanation is more frequently used the letter, the shorter the code for it is. The letters were assigned codes according to the binary tree above. There are differences in letter frequencies between languages, and also between dialects. In American English there's a plethora of words ending in '-ize'. These words are rendered '-ise' in English. This alters the frequency with which 'Z' appears.

However, it doesn't account for the discrepancy where 'O' is viewed as less frequent than 'K' in the Morse tree! English (and American English) has most definitely changed since the 1830s when Morse Code was created, but surely not that much.

65 of the 100 most used words can't be made using the letters from the top three tiers. If B, Y, W, and H are added, it reduces the list to "of, have, for, from, which, can, up, know, take, could, think, come, about, last, give, just, very, look, like, such, find" - 26. Although this does not prevent the 14 letters in contained in the top three tiers being used to make many, many words.

I think the best approach is to learn a couple of letters each day, and make words from them, (or the last line of the chorus of 'Old MacDonald had a farm': . .. . .. ---

Watching 'The Orcas Play'

Yesterday the sea was shades of turquoise and dusky petrol. This morning, it was so dark. The image above does not show how dark the sea actually was. There were white wave tops on the dark, dark sea, and they looked like the white markings on orcas. It was fascinating to watch.

The weather was vastly different too. The temperature has dropped by 10C. Gone was the sunshine of yesterday, and in were light grey skies. And the wind! Sailings have been cancelled today due to the strength of the wind.

Habitica - Gamify Your Life

I've been playin with Habitica today. It's a system where you can turn your tasks and chores into a game. You can level up, and 'win' fantastic prizes.

So far, I've set up daily tasks of writing a blog post, crocheting two rows in the Temperature Blanket, and exercising for 30 minutes. There's also a habit of 'Stop playing 2048'. This game, and all of its ilk have been a huge time suck. My time is mine to spend as I choose, and I choose to spend time on things that are more important to me.

Dinner Ideas

I've been having a few problems coming up with ideas for meals recently, and thought it would be helpful to have a list of menu ideas gathered in one place. This should make meal planning a great deal easier.

Chicken
chicken korma
chicken pasta bake
chicken salad with oranges and mustard
chicken with a lemon and herb crust
Hereford chicken (cooked in cider with Stilton cubes)
lemon chicken
roast chicken

Vegetarian
butternut squash pasta
mushroom risotto
omelette
Quorn lasagna
Quorn spaghetti bolognaise
roasted veggies with feta

Meats
bacon and broccoli pasta
boiled ham
haggis, neeps and tatties
hot potato and bacon salad
roast pork
sausage and mash

Fish
fish and chips
fish pie
fisherman's pie
warm salmon and potato salad

Gluten-free Quick Bread

An experiment in quick bread.

Ingredients
240g gluten-free SR flour
200ml milk
5 Tsp mayonnaise

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.

Using a whisk, combine the mayonnaise and milk. When well mixed, add the flour. Spoon out the mixture into 12 silicone muffin cases in a muffin tin, and bake for 20 minutes, until light, and golden and fluffy.

Outcome
A very tasty and satisfactory experiment. We now need to move into a rigorous phase of testing, repeating the experiment many times.

May Goals

May Goals
1. Complete this year's slightly odd IronMay
2. Finish 12 balls of yarn 

3. Operate a policy of 1 new ball of yarn for 3 finished balls

----

1. Odd IronMay completed

2. Finished 12 balls of yarn

3. 3 balls of yarn bought