wishful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine knows that you don't know what you got till it's gone...

I miss so much of what was good and easy in the Before Times in the summer. I miss there not being "fire season". I miss being able to "go swimming". I miss being able to cook without worrying about dangerous parasites in our food. 

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~ another warm day ~

"Hot Town, Summer in the City"...I miss access to water. Seven years ago we had a city pool a short bike ride away from Acorn Cottage, but that pool has been shut down ever since the beginning of the pandammit.When I was a child in Los Angeles, most of the places we lived had a swimming pool in the backyard. It was a different world all those long (or short) years ago. While I am grateful for running water at all, I do very much long to submerge my body and just float for a bit...

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Went to the copy store for hardcopy of the knitting graphs for the Murano Squares pattern I'm using for the Tabby Cowl and also the Acorn and Oakleaf Sweater pattern and charts. While I don't intend to make that sweater as shown, I want to really be clear about knitting the acorn and oak leaf cable, as my intention is to make that part of my future Aran-style cardigan sometime this winter. It is good to have some ongoing knitting. The cowl is first, because small and fairly light. Soon I'll also start on the Northern Lights cardigan, as that gets knit in several pieces (sleeves first, and then the lower body) before they are all joined together for the fancy colorwork yoke. That should work out really well coordinating with the probably weather over the next few months. 

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It will likely be safe to use boxed spinach in my crustless quiche. Not only do I first wash it well, but then it gets thoroughly steamed, cooled and chopped to bits, then mixed into the quiche ingredients and it all is baked at 350°F for a half hour. By the time it comes out of the convection oven the entire casserole is bubbling hot, so surely over the 158°F for 15 minute requirement.

I have some ideas for a substitute for raw celery, which is a required ingredient in egg salad and potato salad. Mischa suggested water chestnuts, which have the advantage of coming in small quantities. A not-huge jicama root might also work, if cubed up small, or a rather bland apple? Also wondering about peeled Persian cucumber cut into cubes? Or maybe just not try to replicate what once was easy. 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	5 more bead frogs	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- always grateful for the heat pump cool air
- Past Me has been good about putting extra portions in the freezer, so there are usually meals that can be put together when I don't feel like cooking
- chatting with Mischa

Time of Isolation - Day 2193