Monday Muggings--New Blogger text format

This Monday's Mug is about quirks.  Well...one particular quirk of mine regarding coffee mugs.  As all people do, I have some favoured mugs.  I reach for the favoured mugs for morning coffee or afternoon tea. 

Some of my mugs are all one color, like today's mug; but, most of them are colored on the outside and white or cream on the inside.  I favour the white or cream inside mugs. 

I discovered this quirk a few years ago.  It seems that I like to see the contents of the mug, and if the mug is dark on the inside--like the coffee or tea, it messes with my process of enjoying the refreshment. 

Yes, I did say it was a quirk, so there!

I suggest that you try it and see if it makes a difference to you.  I'm sure there is some name for this coffee-mug-insides-quirk, probably Disfunctional Imbiving Perception Syndrome or DIPS for the peasants to understand. 

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Ok,  Now to the crochet circles.  (Not to be associated with crop circles, or stone circles)

These crocheted cuties will be some sort of shawl, for me...woohoo!

I had the better part of several balls of sock yarn, and it was not enough for "anything" so I started crocheting.

I copied a coaster from a set that a friend made for me a long time ago. 

It will be put  together with this full ball of black.  I will see if it looks the same way after I do it, as I have it in my mind. 

Do you like the mug?  I got it from  Cottage Creations many years ago...two kitties hiding by a basket of yarn, cute!

Not too much going on, besides working on the outside of the house.  The temps are lower and so is the humidity...so pleasant.

Gotta go, have dishes and laundry waiting...

I'll leave you with this:

    "For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods."  Psalms 97:9

In His hands,  ^__^


 

Monday Muggings--What are horns for?

This Monday's Mug is for pondering about horns: specifically The little horn in the book of Daniel.
We were watching a preacher's YouTube last night and he was preaching about the horns in Daniel and he said--like all other preachers that I have heard preach about it--that this little horn is the antichrist, or some leader of some sort, or some form of power, etc. I was pondering about horns...and began to go on a 'rabbit trail' in my head.

Knowing about the 'rule' of interpretation, which is, the "law of first mention" the horns are first mentioned in Genesis: the ram caught in the thicket. Then it is in the next 3 books as the horns of the altar. Then it is mentioned as a pushing force. Then as Media and Persia.

Then I was thinking about actual horns of animals and which animals have horns. Goats, sheep, deer, elk, moose (those may be antlers, but bear with me) oxen, buffalo, Narwhals (probably the biblical unicorns--which probably means north whale, since they only live in the northern waters) And how they use their horns.
These thoughts and ponderings about horns must have been chewed-on by Bible readers for centuries and centuries. But here is my partial and temporary surmising: Horns are typically not a weapon of prey or destruction. I'm thinking that horns are self preservation instruments, or even defense instruments, i.e., a deer is eating a shrub, minding his own business, and suddenly some other stalking critter appears and threatens this deer's space. The deer flees or turns toward the 'evil' critter and, horns first and forward, goes after the invading critter. He may use his hooves for stomping also.
He may engage another buck in a challenge for the herd, but it is always pushing, pushing, pushing--although in the case of rams it may be a charge-and-BANG!-CRASH! confrontation--like in Wild America--the wilderness show.

I do not see any of the horned (or antlered) animals stalking their pray, and slicing the unsuspecting 'meal' with their horns. What I observe in the animal kingdom is that horns are more of a "leave me alone, I am POWERFUL" kind of thing.

Must chew on this a lot more before I agree with the preachers' varied descriptions of the 'little horn' before I agree with any of their surmisings.

"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."" Psalms 18:2

"All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted."
Psalms 75:10

These are only two that looked up. Horns are in my Bible 67 times and Horn 36. I may be the only one who ponders these things with such interest. I will study these verses in more detail, I know that the Lord will bless me and open my understanding regarding this.

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Well, heavy stuff for Monday morning, but the coffee was so good, I had such a good time looking these verses up.
I enjoy knitting and crocheting with Galway wool, from Plymouth Yarns. It is relatively inexpensive, and quite soft. It is also lofty--a must for winter things. They have lots of colors.

These green and gold pieces will become a teapot pad. I copied the one that one of my aunts made for me, umpteen years ago. I'll show you these and that one when these are completed.

Got some 'big' heirloom tomatoes that the Boy's Scouts had planted, tended and harvested. The tomatoes are so sweet that I can eat them as apples. One of our friends is a Scout leader and he oversaw the entire operation. A very yummy treat indeed.

These tomatoes on the sill are ours, still little, but flavourful.

My DH brought these in on Saturday and still had a little green on one side...not anymore. It is a HUGE bell pepper, next to the little jalapeno.

Gotta go do some stuff, like laundry...vacumming...naah, start dinner preparation, yup.

I'll leave you with this:

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Timothy 2:15

In His hands, ^__^

Bread and Pizza Tutorial in pictures--lots--and recipes

But, first the finished dollie for the 'pink girlie's b'day'
It made everybody smile...it's that kind of doll! The 'pink girlie' loooved it.
Even though she has 'real' dollies, this one is for holding in the hand. (I had to draw a face with Daddy's Sharpie...she insisted.)
I was working on this triangular shawl for an elder's wife at church, and dropped a stitch for several rows to straighten a loopy stitch...so while I waited for the dough to rise, I knitted.

First: Mill the best wheat on earth--no exaggeration.

8 cups of wheat (after milling it's 12 cups of flour)

Place 5 cups of warm water {in your Bosch}

3T powdered yeast

1/2 c honey

1/2 c soft or melted butter

1T salt

1c sour dough starter from 2 days ago.

2 heaping Tablespoons of wheat glutten.

Stir for several seconds

Allow to rest for 20 minutes

Add the flour and mix until the dough is formed, and it is tacky not sticky.

Remove from the bowl, knead on the counter for about a minute.

Place the dough in a large bowl to rise until double...

Cover the bowl with a plate or platter, or serving tray...whatever you have that will cover the bowl, but not tightly.

I use my Oneida platter--it is 24 inches wide.

See...?

My dough trippled in size, sometimes it overflows making the platter rise 3 inches or so.

Place the dough on the counter and separate into the desired number of loaves or buns.

I mostly make 4 loaves--2 lbs each...sometimes I make rolls, sometimes buns.

The bread pans are sprayed with a cooking spray--I use Pam.

Loaves resting and rising for 29 minutes. This amount of time is perfect so that you do not get the 'handle' on the top of the slices after baking. (That is, the bubble on the top of the loaf)

Loaves ready to go into the 350F oven.

Fully baked for 30 minutes. Doubled in size. The line you see is the loaf pan's edge mark.

I love my bread...

I had to use the rest of the sour dough starter. ( The weather guy said it was going to be back in the 90s for a week again, so I was not going to be baking until the temps go below 80.)

I decided to make pizza, with my secret sauce.

But I had a little bit of dough left so I made a pretzel-wanna-be.

Yummy!

Next: The Pizza

Make the dough, let it rise until double, separate into portions--this time I made 2...let them rise, covered until the dough could be 'poured out'-- which is a very bubbly, elastic soft dough [approximately 25 minutes]

poke the bubbles with fingertips

cover with Secret Sauce (recipe): In a blender place, the juice of 1 can of diced tomatoes

2T European Oregano

1T red pepper flakes

1 can of drained anchovies

1 medium jar of pimentos

1T dry parsley--may use the equivalent in fresh parsley

6 garlic cloves--may use equivalent in dry garlic

1 medium onion coarsely cut--may use equivalent in dry onions

NO SALT

The rest of the diced tomatoes from the can.

Blend well until creamy, pour into a bowl and add 1/2 c of extra virgin olive oil, mix with a spoon.

(if you add the oil to the blender, you will have pink sauce)

Ladle sauce to the dough in your preferred amount.

Add meat or veggy toppings...this one is pepperoni.

Cover with your preferred amount of cheese...mozzarella only or a blend of cheeses of your choice. This one is mozzarella only.
Bake in HOT oven...450F or 500F for approx 7 or 8 minutes. This method will give you a quick melting and goldening of the cheese and a crispy crust...which is what we like, while all the fresh ingredients, i.e., garlic and onions retain all their nutritional potency.

This one is hamburger topping.

I always place the cheese on the toppings because I DO NOT like the burnt meats and veggies. Some people do.

We ate a couple of pieces and I froze the rest for Sunday's church meal.

Phew! That was fun! and it was DELICIOUS also.

If you use my SECRET recipes let me know how you like it, and send me pictures.

NOTE: If you do not tell anyone that there are anchovies in the sauce, no one will know. [some of my people think that they can taste it, but NOT! Once they know...they can taste it...so don't tell]

I'll leave you with this:

"He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat." Psalms 147:14

In His hands, ^__^

Monday Muggings

This Monday's Mug is a Library mug.


It is my contention that OXYMORONS are promoted constantly, i.e., this library mug. Should it not have the WORD library on it? rather than a symbol? And an international symbol at that...in our local library...hmm?
I am very fond of reading, and the little symbols--illiterate friendly symbols--do not give me a break from the business of reading...now really!

I have no beef/boeff with symbols, or illiterates; symbols simply contribute to the perpetuation of laziness, in my humble [yeah, sure] opinion.
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Now going right on to knitting: the above is a tube of 10 stitches which will become a dolly for one of my pink girlies' b'day. I will show you when done.

Speaking of doings: Look at the bubbles of my sour dough starter. It is coming right along. Tomorrow the weather will be kinder/gentler--supposedly a high of 74F. I have planned to make bread. Yes, I will show you that too.
I wish you could smell the perfume of this starter, yum!



Friday and Saturday I made this cream for a friend--and a little for me. I have been 'trying' to incorporate MSM powder into my creams and I could not dissolve it. A friend tried dissolving it in hot water and told me that heating the water dissolved it. (Of course, I should have known this fact.) I placed my mixing pot on a low flame and the MSM powder dissolved in 30 seconds or so.


Then I added the Shea butter to the hot solution. When the shea butter was creamy like pancake batter, I whippped it with a hand mixer, for 8 minutes or so. I have not added any scent. My friend really loved the feel of the cream.


I sort of, threw everything together, so I do not have a recipe, it was approximately as follows:



Recipe:

2T MSM powder
3T spring water
1T glycerin--to emulsify
1/2 t lecithing granules--to emulsify
8 T shea butter

Let me know if you have any variants to the recipe or the method.


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Another giant fig of the prairie. This one I gave to my friend who had never had a fresh fig. She loved it. I may have to start a fig tree for her.
The fig is on the far right.

I finally have a picture of my new kitchen faucet. #5 put it in and it works wonderful. No leaks, no strange sounds...yay for the new faucet. The high profile allows me to fill the big soup pots and the watering cans without contortions. It is so shiny and beautiful...also the tomatoes on the sill...so homey.

Gotta go...maybe...c ya tomorrow...

I'll leave you with this:

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." Psalms 37:7

In His hands, ^__^

My YouTube

I've had a YouTube page for over a year.
It never occurred to me to let you all know. DooDah!

Oh, well...it's just my 3 videos that I've posted here last winter--I should do more--and about 18 of my favourites, mostly spinning and woolly things.

Go see...it's located on the right margin below my profile.

...hot enough to boil steel...well, ya'know...still August...

I'll leave you with this:


"The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter." Psalms 74:16- 17

In His hands, ^__^

Knitted scarf -- MONDAY MUGGINGS -- giant figs of the prairie

I was thinking about sharing my mugs with you and call it Monday Muggings, but it's so corny...

However, I have decided to do it...at least today...well...ahem...I know it's Tuesday...don't be so particular...

Found this coffee mug at a thrift shop. It holds 18oz and just right for breakfast coffee, especially on Mondays. It matches my other one, the 20 Minute Coffee Break mug which is my most popular.

At the same shop I found a ball of yarn--I believe it to be Noro--with no label, and these bamboo needles skewered through.
What could I make with this?, said I.
After pondering for a while this 'thing' came to mind.

WADDAYATHINK!?




It's all garter stitch. After some rows I bound some middle stitches off, as for a button hole, and cast them back on the following row. As I kept knitting I noticed I would not have enough yarn to continue. I decreased to half on the next row and knitted the rest until I had a bit left. I decreased one stitch at the beginning of each following row and i-corded the last wee bit. There you have it.
One picture with flash the other without. The colors are truer on the picture below.

Next come the figs. We have these three fig trees in pots. DH keeps them in the garage in the winter. They do not produce much, our biggest harvest has been 5 figs. Sometimes the ants get them but this year I keep my eye on them and have eaten 2 giant figs already. DH picked this one last night, and will probably get the next one tonight.

They have been 7 or 7 1/2 inches in girth at the time of picking, after being in the refrigerator for a few hours they shrink a bit. They are delicious. Good thing that I am the only one in the family who likes fresh figs, or we would have to have a fig grove, or is it a fig forest...whatever. I also love dry figs. When I was little I used to shake figs off of the tree at my Grandma's house and sit on the ground and eat figs and watch the chickens...that was very entertaining.

Our tomatoes are not too big this year. Actually they are about the size of the figs. I have heard comments from other gardeners who are having the same type of results with their tomatoes.

Still scorching--very good for tomato ripening.

We need an "Alberta clipper" to cool us down...soon enough!

Ok, girlies, gotta go.

I'll leave you with this:

"The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked." Proverbs 10:3

In His hands, ^__^

Oh, that was easy!!!!

Thank you #1a!

I needed help from a wise geek to repixel or reduce the size of my header picture. I'd Googled it and nothing ungeeky (is this a word?, yes! I have just invented it) came up. Did not want to do html things--too mathematical for my grammatical mind.

Talked to #1 yesterday and #1a who is super geeky--thank you Lord--talked me through it.
It was all made for PeasantHouse speed, for the PeasantHouse village.

Now my header is the right size. I do not understand why Blogger took away the resizing feature. It's their place, I just park here.

THANK YOU!

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Well, I was able to go in the back patio and sweep the leaves that have begun to fall from the Pussy Willow tree. THE LEAVES ARE FALLING! Yay! The crabapple tree is turning those late summer colors. And the Walnut leaves are starting to be lighter green, which will turn a bright yellow in a week or so, and then fall.

The temp was higher today but much less humid, so I did not choke on the floating water.

I just wanted to share that...yes, I know, I'm pathetic.

Ok, having to do some scanning of stuff to email a friend. Let's see if it works.

I'll leave you with this:

" How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation." Daniel 4:3

In His hands, ^__^

Had to come out from under the rock

Although it was cooler there. Yup, just came up to complain...about the oppressive, monstrous heat and humidity. Today should be 100F (they say) and the heat index will make it 113F. See, we do not have it as bad as the population of Needles, CA. Their temp is, pretty much 120F all the time...maybe not in January. We've been through Needles a few times, and it is not oppressively humid. Of course when the temp goes over 97F the humidity gets 'burned off'

So you say, 113F is 113F...walk a mile in my flip-flops, and then tell me.

So we had people, actually my little cousin came to play some college soccer tournament. He was amazed at the humidity. It was he who came up with the term 'monstrous humidity'...what do those Southern Californians know about humidity? Hmmm? We also had a semi-severe thunderstorm and 2 inches of rain for him. I don't think he had ever heard so much thunder in his life.
Food was good. (this is an old picture, but you get the idea...this is #2's house) BBQ'd bratwurst...yummm!

We went to the used book store. He had the AC on, which was good. His store is packed so full with tons and tons of isles of books--our day-off outing. So nice.
He had this posted to amuse himself at the patrons' reactions.


Not doing too much of anything. Only the necessary stuff. It is called Estivating...the dormancy of summer.

I wanted to touch base with you...yup, still here...how many weeks till Fall?
Six, you say?

I'll leave you with this:


"Therefore let no man glory in men." I Corinthians 3:21a

In His hands, ^__^