Now that it is Winter

Winter arrived last week, a week early. This is a huge improvement on last year when winter was a whole month early. With cooler days and nights I'm back to knitting with wool.

The yarn for the charcoal grey scarf is a mix of merino and possum fur, very soft and beautiful to knit. I gave dear Mum a skein of this last year, saying "I'll knit whatever you want". Mum chose to have a scarf and I found just the right pattern on Ravelry - lacy parts and solid parts, the pattern is fun to knit.


For a break from lacy patterns I'm making a simple garter stitch scarf for me in a merino and kid mohair blend. It does require some concentration as it is a fine 2ply yarn being knitted on 5.5mm needles.

And there is no fear of me running out of projects - here is the yarn stash:

Well, Zebbycat only needs the kittycat-carry-cage a few times a year, so why not keep yarn and cotton batting in it (where they are, co-incidentally, safe from his paws and claws). The ziplock bag on top is full of sock yarn.

I have a wee stash of yarn related books to keep me inspired.

At last I finished my first ever sock this week.

Only one year after, nearly finished, I found I'd dropped a stitch and put it aside.
The 2nd sock is already 40 rows long.

And I've finally joined the 21st century by getting Sky digital tv installed.

A clear tv picture at last, but the weather temperature figures don't appear any larger. I'll just have to put my glasses on more often! They'll come off again fast as short-sighted Mickle can't see close up needle work (knitting and sewing) clearly with the goggles on. Reverse issue to what the long-sighted stitchers face.

With the cooler weather Zebby is spending more time under his battered quilt. Fine by me - it means he isn't paw/clawing at the knitting projects (only at me in the mornings). His purring quotient is still at a super high level, so welcome during my insomnia moments in the wee small hours of the morning.

Postscript: The bear on top of the TV, Alphonse, is fully jointed, and he is made from a possum fur pelt. To the right are two patchwork "chooks*", made by my dear Mum - with Mickle finishing up the beaded eyes and other hand sewing parts.

*chooks = chickens of any type, age and/or gender. A common term in NZ, Aussie and, I believe, parts of Scotland.

A pretty and useful gift

Isn't this mug pretty! It was a gift from my dear friend Pam for my fortieth birthday, 5 years and a few months back. The outside points to what to do.



Yes, take off the lid, pick some fresh herbs (or you can use a dried tea mix) and put them in the infuser. Pour over freshly boiled water, place the lid on top and then ...



after a few minutes remove the lid and then the infuser part (the lid makes a stand for the infuser). You'll be left with a beautful mug of very freshly brewed herbal tea. For this I used fresh mint leaves from my garden - soothing for the stomach and calming as you head off to bed.




Even without a specific mug like this, newly boiled hot water over fresh mint leaves makes a wonderful tea. Great hot or chilled, and wonderful for dodgy innards like Mickle's.

(My mint is still growing out there, but getting knocked back by the approaching winter - never mind, it will suprise me again in Springtime)

Well Spiced Gingerbread

I recently came across a very easy gingerbread recipe but felt that the spicey part needed tweaking

http://sundayhotpants.nocturne.net.nz/post/528036668/gingerbread-loaf*


* 50 gms/2oz softened butter
* 3 Tblspns golden syrup
* 1/2 cup of sugar
* 1/2 cup of boiling water
* 1 to 1 1/2 tspn ginger
* 1 egg
* 1 cup of flour
* 1/4 tspn baking soda
* 1/2 tspn of baking powder

Place butter, syrup, sugar, and boiling water in a bowl and stir gently until the butter is melted.Add the egg and whisk briskly

Add the sifted dry ingredients and pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. The mixture will be quite thin. Bake at 180C/350F for roughly 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean.

Now the Mickle Method:

I preferred that the sugar was fully dissolved so I used brown sugar, popped the first 4 ingredients into a pyrex jug and gave it a blast in the microwave. Once I knew it all was liquid I put it aside to cool down - didn't want scrambled egg!



If you can't get golden syrup then use molasses (not blackstrap!) or maybe maple syrup and brown sugar - but please do not use corn syrup. Incidentally the picture on the golden syrup tin shows the Chelsea Sugar Refinery in Auckland - Dad's father worked there as an electrician.

I sift together all the dry ingredients, using 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground ginger and adding a shake of cinnamon and about 1/2 a teaspoon each of ground mixed spice, allspice, cloves and mustard powder. I picked up the mustard powder trick from a Molly Katzen recipe - the heat cooks out as the bread bakes, leaving just the flavour behind. Mix and match the spices according to you own likes and dislikes.

Beat the egg into the wet ingredients, then mix them through the dry ones. Pour into your prepared loaf tin. I use baking paper (baking parchment) for an easy clean up.

Into the oven at 180C/350F for half an hour and you get this:

A beautiful spicy loaf of gingerbread; and

A clean baking tin with baking paper you can use again for your next loaf.

If you can restrain yourself, leave cutting into the loaf until the next day - it will be gloriously soft, moist and light.

And I don't have to share it with Zebbycat!

(* I know this should be a nice link to take you over to the post but I didn't have time to look up how to do it. One day ..........)

I felt so well organised last Friday. The evening before I'd prepared my lunch, made out a shopping list and got the reusable shopping bags ready for I was going to do a grocery shop on the Friday after work.

Come Friday I got ready for work, grabbed my lunch and the shopping bags, and remembered to turn on some lights inside (I have long life, low energy light bulbs) as the sun would be setting around the time I planned to get home. The bathroom light also shines on the steps outside.

Well, once at work I found there was a meeting late afternoon, followed by drinks. Not a problem, I'd leave work a bit later but I'd prepared! I finished work, caught a bus to the supermarket and whizzed around there in record time (new discovery - 5.20pm on Friday is an excellent time to visit the supermarket). I wheeled the trolley out, my taxi pulled up and ..... it started to rain, heavily.

Get back to my place, pay the driver and unload the bags of shopping ready to ferry them down the lovely, steep 54 steps. Odd - no light shining from the bathroom. I figured the bulb had died. Get the first lot of groceries down, unlock the front door and turn on the hall light - nothing happened. None of the lights were working!

Bugger!!! The fuse must have gone. I get the rest of the shopping down - in the dark, in the rain. Now my dear Dad taught me how to change a tap washer, and how to change a tyre but not how to change a fuse. I rang him for advice then rang round the neighbours.

My darling neighbour, Glenda not only had some fuse wire, but knew how to apply it. I took the relevant bit from the fuse box back up the 54 steps, in the rain, and Glenda sorted it out. Back down the steps, in the rain, Hooray!! it worked.

I dryed myself off, fed and soothed a puzzled Zebbycat and poured myself a glass of wine. Bugger #2 - I still had all the groceries to put away .........

May already - who did that?

It is sometimes hard to tell it is Autumn here as many plants stay green all year round


One shot to the left and you can see the mad zucchini still going in the distance.



My baby spinach plants are growing, slowly and steadily ...



... as are the cauliflowers and broccoli.



Here is a picking of the Greek Oregano I raised from seed back in December - the aroma is glorious and the flavour delicious (I used this in bread)



A touch of Autumn as the Hydrangea flowers darken ...



... and whatever this is bursts into flower.



Yet the nastertiums from Summer continue to remind me of sunshine. I've had a brilliant crop of seed heads from these which I've pickled - called "Poor Man's Capers" by some but I relish their peppery bite in it's own right.



Zebbycat snoozles away the day, keeping warm and cosy, and no doubt dreaming of food. I'm already thinking what to grow in Springtime while dreaming up comforting dishes to make over Winter, dishes that are delicious and "Mickle innards" friendly!

April is ticking along

Yesterday's harvest, clockwise from the top left: pak choi, another Kumikumi zucchini, male zucchini flowers, nastertium seeds (for pickling) and a little gem squash.


It is getting cooler at night but we're okay. Zebbycat loves the new heater. I confess I had him in mind when I chose this one. Purrrfect for feline snoozling.



A comfy big cushion covered with his favourite bath mat and a smaller cushion for his tail ....... only sometimes Zeb goes into a happy daze and overheats. He then beats a hasty retreat to cool off - still in comfort of course! And with a firm paw on His bath mat

Autumn here is always windy

So the nearby sycamore trees spread their seeds far and wide. Great from the trees' points of view but not so hot for me as I don't want my garden taken over by them. Here is my seed harvest of over 100 from just one walk back across the lawn from the compost bin:


In between the sycamore seed harvests I been working on the "maroon monster" as I've now named the Wrap/Stole. (The real colour is darker than appears in the photograph).


This was it at half way and I've since progressed to 2/3rds completed. Only 200 rows to go!!!