Cold Continues

I'm festering in a pile of tissues. I'll do more tomorrow.

I'm craving some very basic knitting and I'd seen Cherie's awesome shrugs and I was inspired to do something completely different. I feel the cold and I wanted another layer that was loose and could go over a sweater or something. I found one of those patterns where you basically knit a rectangle, fold it in half, seam halfway up the sides and call the gaps armholes. I mentally rearranged the pattern, adding a few stitches to the amount cast on as I was using yarn that was completely different to the pattern but was handy. I wanted something mindless, and this was two by two rib followed by stocking or stockinette stitch. I cast on 180 stitches (I'm a large lass) and pootled along for some 2x2 rib. After a while, I looked at the knitting, tried it against my shoulders, and it wasn't big enough. I mean, I would fit into it, but it wouldn't be loose enough to go over sweaters or allow for movement. 

I'm still wondering what I should do. There's a serious investment in 2x2 rib, which I loathe, but I'm inclined to rip it all out, cast on a load of stitches, plain knit to the end of the yarn and cast off. I know that I'd find it incredibly relaxing and I've other projects that I can follow if I want to do something that needs more attention. 

I also have a very large piece of fleece that could be adapted to something similar, which would save me having to cast on a gazillion stitches and hope for the best. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Have a Cold

Both bear and DH have generously passed on their germs to me. I am utterly unimpressed. This means that not much has happened today, and I expect not much will happen over the weekend either. 

Dinner this evening was 'nice' sausages from the freezer, frozen salt and pepper fries that the men like (which were on offer last week) and peas, all with gravy. The men were very happy with it but I felt that it was lacking. Mind you, I think the main thing lacking was my enthusiasm.

We have a stock of 'nice' sausages in the freezer after a good deal. They are conveniently gluten free, taste great and could be worse when it comes to ingredients. I firmly believe that it's better to spend out on nice sausages (£2.50 for six large, meaty sausages, which is enough for us) than get cheap and poor quality steak.

As for the pickled chillies, it's very much DH's domain. He and bear will eat any amount. I have left it entirely to them, so I'm not sure of the recipe they use, but it's something like 300g of chillies plus white vinegar plus salt and possibly suger plus some water will do enough to make I think two or three jars of pickled chillies that last maybe a fortnight or possibly three weeks. The jars used previously contained pasta sauce, and their lids have a coating that isn't so likely to be affected by the vinegar. These are supposed to take 500g of the pasta sauce and are a decent size. One small jar of 270g chilli pickles at Tesco costs £1.70. At my best guess of the recipe, and erring on the generous side, it costs maybe £3.00 for the chillies and pennies for the vinegar and salt and possibly sugar for the minimum of four times that jar costing £1.70, and we know everything that's in it. That is why spending, say, £12 on two buckets of jalapeno pepper growing packs, which may produce more than two plants and therefore may produce a kilo or so of chillies, makes sense as a gamble.

I don't eat them, as I'm not a fan of spicy food, but I'm always replacing bottles of hot sauce and tabasco as the men love that stuff. DH and bear get through quite a lot during a week, so it's absolutely worth it. I'm going to try and persuade DH to make Cowboy Candy. We've had it in the past but it was £6.99 for a very small jar, so home made would absolutely be worth a try. 

I also treated DH to a bottle of chilli flavoured oil. It was on offer and I needed a small amount to make it up to free delivery, so I added it to the Tesco order and he loves it. If we get enough chillies, he may have a go at making his own. I know that he's really enjoying it. 

Perhaps, if this goes well, I may try growing garlic next year. 

I haven't got any pics taken today, so here is a blast from the past.

It's from 4th February 2024 and if the chillies are successful and I branch out, I may need it!

Hugs and good health to all.

Some Chillies Have Been Planted

There are quite a few pictures today, so brace yourselves. 

The first pack of chilli seeds I attempted was the one where the pots had been stuck.

They included a bag of potting soil and wonderfully clear instructions. I was to cut open the bag of soil (not tear), stand it in the upturned clear pot and add 300ml of water. I was then to leave it for a few minutes to allow the soil to absorb the water. 

I left it for over half an hour, but when I decanted it into the opaque pot, water still ran through. I put the clear pot on top, as instructed, but I'll probably give the soil a little spray tomorrow as I'm worried about the soil being too dry. 

I then went for the cayenne bucket. That had instructions in incredibly tiny print.

As well as all sorts of bits. I was using my phone camera in close up to read the instructions. Then I had to pour 'some' water onto the little coir discs.

They didn't specify how much, and I got a little carried away. I ended up with something like soup and I tried soaking up some of the excess liquid with tissues.

Then, as instructed, I sprinkled the seeds onto the coir and put the clear cover on. Then I put it to join the previous pot on a sunny window ledge. I'll transplant later.

I looked at the jalapenos next. 

These had instructions on the inside of the packaging where the seeds were helpfully taped.

And there are two bags of compost per bucket. These need to be placed in a bright, warm place but out of direct sunlight. There is nowhere in the house like that! I'm going to have to do some serious furniture moving before I try planting them. I also need to plant these.

If they all grow, it's a lot of chillies, even if the plants are just moderately productive. DH and bear, however, will easily see off that amount of pickled chillies in a few months. DH makes a new batch of pickles every couple of weeks. Even with buying the plant pots and potting compost, we will save a fortune by growing instead of buying. The basic red chillies from Tesco are 60p for 60g. That's £10 per kilo, and going on what I'm asked to buy, that's maybe a month and a half worth of pickles (and it's still cheaper to pickle them at home, even at that price). If I can over winter the plants, the savings will be beyond worth it. If they don't grow, I'll have lost some money, but I think that it's worth the gamble. 

I'll keep on working on these. A couple of kind commenters suggested writing a story about planting chillies. I admit nothing.

Otherwise it's been a pretty quiet day which has been very welcome.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Chillies Still Not Planted

I swear that I'll get to them soon. 

It's been a nothing sort of day, with mainly writing stuff, then I took bear to his quiz night before sitting down to some knitting in a car park. I couldn't settle to knitting though, and the most memorable part of the evening was when a small black cat trotted across the car park in front of me.

I shot a quick pic through the slightly steamed up window and got a picture so blurry that it could be Bigfoot.

The story that I submitted at the start of last month was rejected with a lovely email. I'm not really surprised as they wanted mouth watering and I'm not sure that I knew where to start with that. The trouble was, I'd seen a call for submissions in another magazine, but it was strongly vegan and pagan, and I'm Christian and I eat meat. The story was niggling at me like crazy, even though I didn't feel I could contribute to that particular magazine. So when I saw the prompt for mouthwatering, I couldn't help but write it. I felt it was okay for the prompt, but I wasn't shocked when it came back, if you see what I mean. The worst thing about it was the battle to get the thing formatted. 

I kind of like the story and I kind of think that it's done. I want it out of my head in order to think of other things, so I've posted it on my blog here. And as the above picture is so poor, here's the pic that goes with the story on my blog.

Tomorrow has to include chillies.

Hugs and good health to all. 

I May Need More Vitamins

I didn't post anything yesterday as I was roughly at the stage of 'toddler-about-to-throw-epic-trantrum' tired. 

I'd been knitting that scarf/wrap out of the book my wonderful DH bought me and I'd gone wrong.

I couldn't work out where I'd made the mistake. It was just one stitch, but it was fiddly to see and it's hard to tell from the knitting. I was ready to cry. 

To be honest, I'm reconsidering it a little as the pattern is nice, but it's a little wide for me for a scarf. I have 700g of yarn from the same pack and I can feel a basic blanket calling me. Last night, I decided that I wasn't in a fit state to make a decision and I was looking for the hat I'd started for the Mission to Seafarers when I found the fanciest yarn I own.

It's 70% Falklands Wool and 30% British Alpaca. A scarf that is definitely for me has been started, just a 3x3 broken rib, and to my surprise, the yarn feels stiffer than the acrylic of the colourful blanket. I suspect it will be better for a wash, but I'm not blocking it. The scarf is likely to be over five feet long and I don't have anywhere that I could pin it. 

We went to feed the crows this morning. There were plenty of crows and magpies but no jackdaws today. It surprised me how busy it was in the car park, but I saw at least three dog walkers with a crowd of dogs and plenty of parents with small kids. I should really take pics of the birds. They are fascinating to watch, with such a presence.

I still feel utterly drained, and I still haven't planted those dratted chillies. I think once they're done, I'll stagger a lap of honour around the living room. 

Writing stuff - I published the next chapter from the White Hart yesterday and you can find it here.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Could be Better

I bought a box of 'grow your own chillis'.

There were two pots inside - one to put the soil in and one to put over the top as a propagator. 

But they were stuck inside each other for ages and I couldn't pry them apart. 

In the end it was DH who managed to work the rim of the bigger pot back. Though only after I'd contacted them on Facebook. They were so patient with me, and on a Sunday as well! I would have waited until Monday if I'd realised they would be monitoring today. I'll have to get them planted tomorrow.

And I finished that blanket. The proportions are all wrong.

I will probably donate, after logging the info in the Knitting Journal that DH got me. Hopefully I'll get better next time. 

Otherwise it's been a quiet day. I hope that I'll have something more exciting tomorrow. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

That was January

I did a thing on Canva because I couldn't think of a picture to take and I need the practice. I'm useless when it comes to anything pictures.

For the first time, I'm looking back on a month with a somewhat critical eye. I've missed writing down a few spends, and I've let the lists slip a little. However I'm going to keep going with both. I'm not going to let a stumble stop me. 

I've submitted a couple of things to anthologies and I'm happy that I've done that. I'm starting to look at my writing in a more critical way. I've listed blankets on eBay which I've been putting off for months, and I've been just a little more proactive. I still haven't planted the chilli seeds, but I'm confident that will happen in the next day or two. 

My mental health has improved and I don't know why. I don't like putting too much doom and gloom on here, but I'm usually pretty close to needing professional intervention and I have been all my adult life. Suddenly things are just a little better and I'm hopeful that I can start slowly improving physical and mental health. It all feels very odd. It's nice, but it's still odd and unfamiliar, though long may it continue!

All in all, there have been lots of very tiny steps in the right direction. It's not been a miracle, but it's like the first shoots of the bulbs and the first buds on the trees. I just need to keep going. I'll be honest, February is usually the lowest time of year for me, so if I can manage the smallest efforts, I'll be thrilled. 

So I would take January as a win. I think I'll try and set some more goals for February and see how I go. 

And as I hadn't taken a pic of anything useful today, here's the blanket I've continued to work on until I decide what to do about the scarf with the new yarn. It's very nearly finished so perhaps I can list it this week as well.

Hugs and good health to all.