in which our plucky heroine remembers that
a hole is to dig...
Today, went and did outdoor/yard tasks first, once awake and
before breakfast. There is much research that getting outdoor light into eyeballs first thing when starting the day is helpful for better sleep hygiene and sleep/wake cycle. Actually doing this has been an unrealised goal of mine for ages. It was less awful than expected, better for mental health than screen time and shall work on turning it into a daily habit.
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~ informative, not failure ~
The secondary concept for this project was as "a blue print on a yellow background", but the next proof (once carving and detailing the print block finished) was unsuccessful. My blue ink is translucent, I discovered, yielding green-on-yellow instead. While at first impression it felt like failure, further thought shifted to "what did I learn here"... a much healthier point of view. to find a place where the desire to try is stronger than the fear of failing
It is very much the maker experience that not everything attempted works out as initially hoped. I'd never used the blue ink before. Indeed, straight out of the tube it was more of a cyan color, and even with some violet ink mixed in, it didn't turn really
blue. I shall
need want to do more experimenting with both ink color mixtures and possibly a different brand of ink, but in the meantime, this print must needs remain instead as a counter-changed black and white design, as my initial concept called for.
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So what did our plucky heroine actually do in the yard and garden this morning: the biggest thing was to empty and move the large blue planters (made from a 55 gallon barrel cut into two halves). Dug out the weeds and dumped into compost, dug out the dirt and added to raised bed, then moved the planters away from where I want the FoT tree planted. I also picked up and stacked the random empty pots. And removed the entire temporary backyard clothesline so no one gets tangled in it. (I'm short, most folks less so) Finally I repotted the baby rhubarb into a larger and deeper pot, so it can continue to expand it's roots... eventual plan is to put it in the ground.
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As the tiny crock pot was busy turning the corned beef into dinner, I also cooked a batch of quince pieces on the simmer burner. Once those were well softened and turning pink, they were mashed to a rough puree, measured out in 1 cup increments and put in the freezer, ready to turn into several batches of fruit bread. The banana bread recipe from my childhood works just as well with other fruit puree, as I have made it with persimmon pulp and with various sorts of squash puree. Banana is so strongly flavored that it needs no additional spices, but most of the others get some form of poudre douce (usually cinnamon and nutmeg, those being my favorites, sometimes ginger, and never cloves, because I don't want food that makes my mouth numb)
ancestral banana bread recipe
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March SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | 6 dozen cookies | grey pinafore | art exchange |
| 2 | lino block carved | pruned marjoram | many dead weeds |
| 3 | tiny faux patchwork quilt | slipper soles | recycle bin |
| 4 | quince pie | bicycle derailleur | yard waste bin |
| 5 | multiple lino proofs | "a-y-a" replaced | recycle bin |
| 6 | x | worm bin bedding | recycle bin |
| 7 | x | cleaned hallway air grilles | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
today's gratitudes -
1. two hours of body doubling via zoom this morning with Karen, and I was able to do the most currently vital admin tasks I have been putting off for months. It took less than an hour.
2. past past me put a chunk of corned beef in the freezer; it is in the crock pot and destined for dinner tonight, along with yellow potatoes and green cabbage turned into colcannon.
3. sometime today the hole digging volunteer(s) obviously arrived and did their digging, as the spot for Future Persimmon now has a hole (with a flag next to it), instead of just bare ground with a flag
Time of Isolation - Day 1703
the banana bread recipe:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup dry milk + ⅓ cup water
(or ⅓ cup wet milk)
½ tsp salt
⅔ cup sugar
1 cup mashed banana
1 egg
1 teaspoon vinegar
⅓ cup melted butter
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan (or 2 mini loaf pans), lightly greased
bake at 350F for 50 to 60 minutes or until done
Preheat your oven.
Sift all the dry ingredients together (not nuts, though).
Mix all the moist ingredients together in a good size bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the moist all at once, and mix
Quickly mix in the nuts (once wet and dry are mixed, the sooner you get
the batter into the pan into the oven, the lighter your bread will be.)
Fill the pan(s) and bake.
Begin testing as for cake at about 50 minutes.
Let cool before slicing, very important.
