Blogtober 2020 :: Day 22

Well today hasn't quite been the productive go-go-go hive of creative activity that I thought it was going to be, but the slowness has suited me very well to be honest. After the school run I went to have coffee with a friend which was really enjoyable. I appreciate my modest social life very much, and meeting up each week with different friends is just the nicest thing. I missed this part of my life very much during our lockdown months and am making the very most of it right now while it's still possible to go to a café with a few others.

I had a late breakfast when I got back home, then faffed around seeing to the laundry, catching up with emails, and generally just excelling at procrastinating. Even though I am so excited about finishing my bag, I couldn't seem to settle down and get on with it this morning. Oh, I've just remembered that I did go for a woodland walk with J very late on in the morning, but I decided (for once) not to take any photos and just appreciate being in the moment. 

I made carrot and coriander soup for lunch today, and it was absolutely delish. By the way I forgot to thank you for your wonderful soupy suggestions on my Day 10 post - Thank You! I made a little list of the ones you mentioned in the comments and am excited to extend my basic soup repertoire. Here they are, in no particular order.....

Swamp soup - love this! (it's leek, potato and spinach)

Red lentil and bacon

Curried butternut squash

Roasted butternut squash

Chicken leftovers with root veggies and a little milk

Potato and corn chowder

Green soup (watercress, spinach and kale, green pepper, stock and a bit of potato)

Broccoli and stilton

It was especially nice today because Little Lady now comes home from school for lunch and the timing was just right for her to have a hot bowl of fresh soup with some buttered toast. She is more than willing to rustle up her own lunch, but the mother in me still jumps at the chance to provide nourishing food whenever possible. I just can't help myself.

I've got some of the biggest, juiciest oranges in the fruit bowl at the moment, they really are magnificent. The above plate is just half of one (I ate the first half before thinking about taking a photo), and I ate it while browsing through the October issue of Country Homes and Interiors. It's very autumnal and a bit brown inside those pages I can tell you, but dahlias and pumpkins are always good for a hit of seasonal colour.

After lunch I set about catching up with the October #yarnfriendsrock challenge, only a day late. I don't know what it is about Wednesday but I can never seem to hold that day in my head properly. I either think it's Wednesday on a Tuesday or a Thursday! The prompt for this week was " Granny Squares" and although I have lots of archive images involving granny squares I thought it would be fun to take a new photo. I moved furniture, gave the floor a quick whizz over with the vacuum cleaner and set about having a play with my blankets. I do have a good few granny square blankets, shall I list them out for you? Ok, well in the above photo, starting from the back....

1. Patchwork Granny - this was a stash bust project using up lots of odds and ends of yarn.
2. Colourwash Granny - 44 shades arranged in a rainbow-ish wash of colour.
3. Summer Harmony - this uses my Harmony Square pattern worked with my Original 17-colour yarn pack.
4. Aria - my current crush, I love it SO SO MUCH.

And not pictured but still in residence we have....

1. Sweet Flower Granny - a stash bust blanket made for our old carava.n
2. Harmony - a rectangular blanket which uses 14 colours for the squares, all edged in Parma Violet.
3. Baby Granny - cashmerino blanket made when Little B was born.
4. Big Blanket - huge monster double bed blanket.

After all the blanket excitement I did eventually settle down with needle and thread and began making weeny stitches to attach the lining into my granny bag. Very gentle, therapeutic work, slow and steady.

I got about half way round before I felt the need for a refreshment break, then half way through my milky coffee I realised that crikey it's only ten minutes until I need to shoot out for the school run. It's been that kind of day, the hours have wafted by and I feel like I didn't really achieve a huge amount. 

I needed to use up these tomatoes which we bought from the market on Saturday, aren't they strange? The veggie man calls them "Yorkshire Blacks", they are a variety of heirloom tomato which is very juicy and has a great flavour. I'm rather thrilled that my basil plant is not only surviving but thriving on the kitchen windowsill, and I've remembered to water it twice, which is something of a miracle. 

I sliced up the tomatoes, drizzled them with a little olive oil, seasoned them, then ripped up some basil leaves to add that unmistakable summery flavour. They really were delicious. Tonight's meal was a bit thrown together, we had the tomatoes with some other salad things and some falafels (not homemade, but very nice). It wasn't really salad weather to be honest, but I enjoyed all the fresh flavours, plus it was a doddle to pull the meal together - the only thing I actually cooked was some garlic bread which meant I had some time to knit.....

I managed a few rows of my sock in the lull between ripping up the basil and putting the garlic bread into the oven. I pulled the wooden coffee table right up in front of the fire and sat with my feet in the hearth, it was oh so cosy, warm and comforting. My hands have been achey today (cold, wet weather I suspect), did I tell you I've started taking turmeric capsules to see if they help ease the discomfort in my joints? I hope they help, I really do. I've got socks to finish, bag handles to attach and a CAL blanket to work on, I need my hands to be tip top. Fingers crossed.

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Comments

[Paula]

Please keep us up to date re turmeric capsules. I have osteo & keen to try anything if it helps.
I love the amazing colours of all your work.

[Jackie Wright]

Hi Lucy I always love the gorgeous cosiness of your blogs and the crochet of course!

[Jean Blythe]

That sounds like a lovely day! Today is a day off for me from working as an obstetrics nurse. It’s rainy but the errands needed done. So I drove to get my things done. It’s really to cold to walk in the rain today. Hoping to have a few more sunny autumn days!

[Kim Krause]

I so enjoy reading your posts. As a US reader, I love the differences in how we phrase things and the words we use! My husband has terrible arthritis in his feet and knees. He had been taking turmeric for a number of years, and experienced some relief, but a couple of years ago I read an article that said taking turmeric extract was even more effective than just turmeric and taking it with type 2 collagen (not 1 or 3) worked even better. He started that combination and it has almost entirely eliminated his pain. I purchase both of these products on Amazon. Hope you get some pain relief soon!

[Jean]

Know what you mean about the mothering instinct! Just had my 44 year old daughter for lunch and set about nourishing her with homemade dhal and spinach soup. I’m knitting socks too - my sons-in-law are addicted - it’s flattering but takes me away from all the other projects I want to do. Slow stitching chickens for one thing, crocheting hand warmers and knitting Christmas mittens.
Hope all the suggestions help you find some ease for your joints Lucy.

[Cindy Conaty]

Hi Lucy, I am LOVING your daily blog and wish it would go on forever! LOL I feel like I am starting my day (I am across the pond) with my best friend hearing about your day. It’s ok to have a day where we don’t get too much done. We all have days like that. I love all your bright and beautiful Crochet. Love you like a sister , Cindy

[Miss Daisy]

Do you have joint pain ? If so I have a home remedy that works - evangelists wives say they will not leave the country without it.

[Trudi]

Oooo Broccoli and Stilton soup, love it, especially with a chunk of sourdough out the oven. My sourdough 'mother' is still going since I started it in lockdown. Saturday lunch the soup will be eaten. Yum. We grew a black variety of tomatoes this year, it takes a bit getting used to seeing them and remembering that is the way they are meant to be! I will put a good dollop of 'mother' in my pizza mix tonight, home grown tomato sauce on top what's not to like. Really really need to take up my hook and get some more blanket done tonight. Looking forward to seeing your granny bag ta-dah!

[Tracy Bache]

How is it Lucy that you can make tomatoes look so yummy?😋 I seem to recall that you wore your hand warmers when your hands have felt a bit achey. I might be imaging it. Hormones and all that!😂 I love seeing your cosy fire. We love in a relatively new build in the heart of Dudley,so no open fires for us. We did however purchase a free standing ethonal fuel fire,which is amazing.It has a flame just like a real fire and gives our quite a lot of heat.💖

[Charlotte Pountney]

PS Ditto all Sandra's advice above on joint pain...it worked for me too.

[Charlotte Pountney]

That's the sort of cooking I like...sitting by the fire knitting! You could try asking for favourite slow cooker recipes to extend your knitting time! Enjoy your slow days and don't feel guilty!

[Lindsay]

Hi Lucy, we all have those days when nothing seems to get done but just fly by without us realising. Can't get the time back so just go with the flow! I have OA in my hands and feet and now take capsules containing turmeric, organic ginger and organic black pepper and have to say it has made a great improvement, only the odd twinge now, usually when it's cold and wet. Recommended by my chiropodist. Worth a trial?

[Barbara]

I’m enjoying your blog, Lucy......I have everything required to crochet the Aria blanket, but it''s in the cupboard underneath the stairs right now, until I can finish another WIP. I have a little tip for keeping Basil for weeks, sometimes as many as eight weeks, for supermarket basil......as soon as I buy it I put it in a little glass cube thing, (it used to have coloured sand and a succulent in it...)on the windowsill, and submerge it, and I top the water up as soon as the level drops a bit....I have tried it with other herbs, but only basil appears to thrive. Try it, you'll be surprised!

[Caz]

Good morning Lucy.
I just wanted to say what a treat it has been this month to chat to you every day. I know you can’t keep it up, life gets in the way and anyway, if you did, it would all get a bit samey and not such a treat, but for now it has been wonderful. It’s been a bit like having a new pattern every morning.
It’s half term next week here in Dorset. It all feels a little weird right now as if we are waiting for something. Waiting for the holiday, waiting for the virus, waiting for a possible Christmas, depending on if eldest child can come home. I feel as if I’m teetering in a cliff edge. Like you, I have days when I just can’t settle to achieve anything. Thankfully crafting and crochet keep me sane.
Have a good day. I’m off to choose fabric for a new blind at Livingstone Textiles. I know you will know exactly where I mean.

[Ray de vries]

So enjoy reading your blog, thank you for sharing. We’re still in self imposed lockdown - hubby is very high risk - so they’re a lovely, gentle, beautifully coloured escape from our (newish) weird world. As another person mentions, we’ve found acidic diet really affects joint pain. To check if that is contributing, i dissolve a dose of citrus soda in water and drink half as i’m going to bed and the other half immediately i wake up, for 2 days max. If our pain/discomfort decreases, we know our diet must be tweaked, and damn! All those acidic foods taste so good! (NB and I cannot emphasize this enough: one can’t take citrus soda too often - read the information on the container ! It contains sodium and it’s also bad for those with blood pressure issues - we only do this to check whether our diet is a major contributing factor when joint pain is prevalent.)

[Sandra]

Interesting to read what everyone has written about osteoarthritis and other joint problems. I have Polyarthritis in my hands and feet. I crochet a great deal: every day. The best thing I did for my health was to cut out ALL sugar and all foods with gluten: bread, pasta - anything made with wheat. I use delicious alternative flours like coconut, almond, chestnut, buckwheat and many others. Every morning I make a delicious muffin in a mug in a regular oven with coconut and almond flour.

I have replaced all sugar with a very small amount of Xylitol (a natural sweetener made from Birch bark). This works very well and tastes good. Very little is needed.

Tomatoes, however delicious. are very acidic and bad for our joints. I also take supplements in the form of turmeric with pepper, Vitamin D3 and plenty of ginger root in my morning drink and I use it a lot in cooking too.

Always lovely to see what you're crocheting or knitting!

[Simon]

I have a different problem with my hands: at this time of year they can get very dry and rough - I have to apply hand-cream of some sort before each yarn session just to ensure the fibres don't become too fluffy - if there is such a thing! But over the last couple of days they have become a little better and I think I know why: I have stopped wearing my fingerless mitts! They are knitted in an acrylic vari-coloured yarn, and although I have read that you can't be allergic to acrylic, you can be allergic to the dyes used. I've noticed in previous years that my hands get rougher, then better through the autumn and winter,and it does seem to be linked to those mitts. I'm going to crochet a new pair in a wool/acrylic mix yarn to see if it helps. It'll be interesting to see if the turmeric works as my sister has some pain in her thumb which prevents her from crocheting and I 'm sure she'd like to get back to it. Take care.

[Elise]

Your socks look gorgeous! I so want to learn how to knit them!! I started taking turmeric as well for joint soreness, crossing my fingers it works too! I absolutely love my own Harmony Blanket. It's one of my favorite granny square projects ever! Those soups sound delicious!!!

[Beverly Vinson]

Love the photo with the oranges. The composition and colors is stunning!!

[Alison]

I’ ve been taking turmeric capsules, which include piperine for max absorption plus vit D3, for about 6 months and I do think they have helped my general aches. I saw some toadstools today at my outdoor tai chi class and stopped to take a pic cos they were just so beautiful - you’ve inspired me to stop and appreciate the little things. They were real storybook style toadstools with the flat red tops and white stalks. Never seen them in real life before.

[Carolyn]

Capacisin from chillies is good for pain relief of OA. You can buy zostrix which contains it or I get it form my gp. Be interested to see if you find the turmeric any good. I try to use natural products too.

[Margaret Rowed]

Tumeric is very good, although it can take a couple of weeks to be felt. I am enjoying your posts each day. It's usually one of the first things I see on Facebook in the morning. It's 7.30 here in Melbourne, Australia and we are watching the birds feeding in the front garden. The lorikeets and cockatoos are squabbling over the seed. Oh and I have my Sweet Pea blanket over my knees.

[CJ]

A slower day is a very good thing, but I know what you mean about being surprised where the hours have gone. I'll be interested to know whether the turmeric works. I have hip pain sometimes that bothers me. I take a couple of oils (flax seed and evening primrose), but I've heard good things about turmeric. The tomatoes look great. I grew some black(ish) ones last year. Very tasty, although Some People were very suspicious. Wait until I give them a purple carrot... CJ xx

[Tineke]

In the Ayurveda, they say Turmeric works best combined with piper longum, try if you can find it online. It makes it better absorbed. Make fingerless gloves from that gorgeous yarn, it helps to wear them when you work. And of course outside ;>D Isn't it lush to see all your work laid out like that <3 And production is best with days of musing in between they say XD