Keeping it interesting

My first project for the new oven was a loaf of white bread, recipe from the King Arthur website.  What a difference having an even heat throughout the oven chamber makes.  It was perfect.

The recipe included a step to make the break have a longer shelf life.  It's from Japan and totally new to me, and it worked all the way to the end of the loaf.

I wasn't really surprised by the difference the new oven made in bread but I was taken by surprise at how different the cookies were.  This is the traditional Toll House recipe and finally the cookies weren't a first cousin of hockey pucks.  

My favorite weaving shuttles are the end-feed shuttles from Schacht.  I have two and weaving wouldn't be the same without them.  The yarn pulls off from the end of the pirn instead of unspooling from a bobbin, and it feeds a shot of yarn across the shed with reliable tension.  They are like night and day from boat shuttles, which I also have.  One day about a week ago I caught the shuttle on the left after sending it down the shuttle race, and something fell into my hand.  It was this piece of metal and it turns out to be the "spring" that holds the pirn pin in place.  I called Schacht and got a message that they're taking care of business from outside their business location.  I emailed them and they were johnny-on-the-spot with a replacement.  Oh how I love their shuttles.

This morning I finished the warp for Linda Hartshorn's class next month on parallel threading.  The warp calls for four 8/2 tencel yarns, 40 ends per inch.  Making the warp is much easier than I could have imagined.  My color choices are disappointing though, more like Christmas ribbon candy.  I thought I had picked colors that aren't complementary but I was wrong.  I posted a question on Facebook and got some handy information on quadradic color arrangements.  I know I'll do this again and I'm glad to have some direction for next time.  

I finished my workshop warp and decided to try just one more go at summer and winter.  Orange and purple are complementary colors and absolutely no-go together because together they make brown.  I made a mess of my colors in the workshop warp so decided to overload these six colors and see if I can manipulate them a little.  Should be interesting.

We're still watching Delaney two days a week and every-other-week, three days.  I never tire of it but I don't get a lot done, though that is changing as she gains more skills.  We're all waiting for her to talk, but it's slow going.  I think part of the problem is that we don't understand her words.  Banana is bwe-aah, for instance.  But she continues to keep it interesting.

 

More Staycation

This is the 30-year-old stove that was in the house we bought five years ago.  Before then I didn't know that some stoves in open floor plans have to vent down under the house.  They also cost a whole lot more than updraft stoves with range hoods.  The control panel part of the oven died last year and while the oven was probably still working just fine, we couldn't control it.  We decided to order a replacement last August.  Due to supply line interruptions production has been at a snail's pace and our replacement didn't come until last Thursday,

This is the brand we were replacing.  Ever hear of it?  Us neither.  Apparently Whirlpool bought them out.  There are no replacement parts.  Our installers had visited the house a couple of months ago to scope out the job and called a couple of weeks ago, wondering if we had gone with another crew.  Nope.  No stove, still waiting.  

When Ian called them last week to set up an installation date, Damian put us at the top of his list, said we had waited altogether too long.  He and Zach are the crew and worked three hours yesterday getting as much of the installation completed as possible.  The unpleasant reality is that the old stove was a 30 amp without a ground wire, the new one is a 40 amp and we were going to need an electrician in order to finish the job.  

Ian found a journeyman electrician on the Next Door app and darned if he didn't show up this morning and rolled up sleeves.  He said he has an overload of work, like all of construction in Bend, but he felt bad that we were left hanging.  That's a phone number we'll hold onto.  Damian will too; he was excited to have a reliable electrician to call on. 

Our installers put the stove box back in the hole because we told them we had a baby coming in the morning.  Delaney was absolutely fascinated by this new thing.  They left the door off to make it easier for the electrician.

This is the new stove.  It's unlike anything I've cooked on before.  The burners are instantly hot, just like gas.  Ian and I falling over each other planning meals and baking.  It even has a steam rack for bread.  With the installation expenses, it was a hefty price tag but I know it will be worth every penny.  I think it's part of Covid thinking - since I'm stuck at home, why not make home a little better.

I am still trying to weave summer and winter without having loops on the backside.  I know now that they're from not advancing the warp as often as I should.  There was one more cobalt towel which I kept for myself.

I had a couple cones of pale yellow so I decided to weave that same draft but with three colors instead of two.  The yellow saddened everything.  I should have known.

So I decided to stick to yellow companion colors, bright yellow and lime green.  Same thing.  I have more warp so guess I'll see how the light yellow can butcher orange.

I'm trying to keep pace with the Aran knit-along and have now divided for the sleeves.  The instructions for saddle shoulders were a week ago so I am falling behind.  Ian told me that if I were to knit him an Aran sweater that he would wear it.  I love these crazy cables and am happy to have another sweater in the wings.  I told him it won't be ready until next winter.

 

Four weeks

I'm keeping track of the days since I went into voluntary quarantine, and each morning I mark off another one.  Tomorrow begins my fifth week.  There were 64 new cases and two deaths yesterday so we'll still not at the turning point.  I read an essay in a recent New Yorker about how China handled the pandemic aggressively and now have lifted the quarantine in Wuhan.  Our Administration bungled this so badly, I just can't think about it too much.  People are dying unnecessarily.

My sister-in-law Rochelle made masks and sent us two of them.  We just got them in the mail and Ian used his today when he went to Safeway.  It's hot!!  Maybe it's the body heat trapped in the mask that kills the virus. 

I read a helpful article that a friend found, listing things to be aware of during this crisis and helpful actions we can take.  One item was to take on a long-term project like learning to play the piano.  I don't have a piano but I haven't woven in a month either.  Bingo.  I finished winding the warp this afternoon in tide pool colors.  Sadly my inactivity has left me with weakened back muscles and I kept having to take breaks to let my back rest.  My super longterm goal will be to use my weights and get my strength back.

And I decided to get my bread mojo back, but it appears that a large portion of American has turned to baking as a comfort activity.  Ian called me from Costco to say that this 25-pound bag of unbleached white flour was the only flour he'd seen, did I want it?  I've always used unbleached white, whole wheat or bread flour but said - buy it!  That might be the only flour we see for the next month.


He has a list of items to look for whenever he shops, including toilet paper of course.  Yeast was always just an empty shelf, and then at his favorite grocery store, employee-owned Newport Market, he found King Arthur bread flour and this one-pound brick of yeast.  It's a completely new yeast to me as is dry mixing it with the ingredients.  I was disappointed with my first try so am going to make some single loaves from the bleached white flour to get acquainted with this altitude, cooking times and temps.  I used to bake all my own bread and I've forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Delaney turned one on Friday.  She is my sunshine in this viral storm.

Passing the Baton

One of my assignments for Thanksgiving dinner is cherry pie.  Years ago when we all lived in Reno we would have quite the crowd and I baked three pies - pecan, apple and cherry.  This one is everyone’s favorite, and since I’m only making one pie I decided to make the crust with butter.  I had no idea that the characteristics of the crust would be so different than when I make it with Butter Crisco.  Someone told me that the chemistry of fat is different according to the fat.  This crust held together well and was pliable and malleable, and boy was it delicious.  It was a hit and I brought home an empty plate. I’m a believer.  Bye Bye Butter Crisco!!  I’ve always made good crust and I think the hand-thrown pie plate by Joe Winter is part of my success but there’s no comparison between my old crusts and the one we ate yesterday.

Son Josh and family went to Reno earlier in the month for a football game between UNR and Boise State, where grandson Logan attends on a band scholarship, and of course the band traveled to the game too.  They had a visit with my daughter who gave them a Christmas present for us that she had lost and recently found while deep cleaning in the house.  It’s from 2015 and is the names of our eight grandchildren.  Since then Gavin became a big brother to Rhett (Everett), and Matt and Julia are expecting Delaney Jane in April, which will bring the total to ten!  My kids went way too long before having their own kids, and just I thought I would never be a grandmother.  Happily I was wrong.

Logan told me recently that he’s decided to declare a visual arts major to go with his criminal justice major.  He told me yesterday that he has signed up for a basic photography class in January.  They’ll be using old fashion SLRs and developing their own film.  My first art and long-time hobby was photography and I even tried my hand with darkroom developing, even took a college class in it.  I asked him if he be interested in my old equipment and he leapt at the chance.  He has to go back to school today so came over this morning to check out my stuff.  He was really pleased and slung the Canon AE-1 around his neck like an old pro. He was surprised at the short strap and was looking to lengthen it, but I explained that it’s short for a reason - closer to your face and doesn’t get bumped around as much.

These are the lenses that fit that camera, and now they’re going to live in Idaho. I laughed at the two packets of lens wipes printed at .21 cents a packet.  I’ve had this stuff for awhile.  My original Canon died a slow and agonizing death.  It had a pin-hole light leak in the cloth shutter so periodically I had to put a drop of India ink on it, but when the tower broke and wouldn’t wind the film, it was time to retire it.  Sadly the film in the camera that day were the shots I had taken of my son’s high school graduation and they were ruined.  And there were four rolls of unexposed film.  I told him I only wanted the canisters to use in weaving for weighting broken warps or floating selvedges.

I also found the folder with some of the work I’ve kept.  I could only develop black and white and so focused on buildings and structures with texture, and old mine buildings were perfect for that.  I got derailed when I discovered Photoshop Elements.

I took a lot of shots of water towers and street lights when we visited New York City and this is one of my favorites.  I’m so happy to hand down my equipment to my grandson and I hope he enjoys it as much as I did.  Meanwhile I need to sign up for a Photoshop class.

Heating Up

I started this morning by skirting another one of Mickey's fleeces. The timing is tricky because I want the fleece warmed up, but I don't want me warmed up. Today was supposed to reach the century mark. One more fleece to go and I'll put the whole shootin' match in the mail to Morro.

Before it got any warmer, I wanted to get on the road to Doyle and gas up Ian's truck. My timing was terrible. They're repaving this stretch.
Ahead of me and behind me, as far as I could see, vehicles were lined up. We waited about 20 minutes for the pilot car and my needle was buried in Empty. I could practically see the gas station! I turned the truck off along with the music. My music was birds and trains.
A road runs along the back side of Long Valley. This basin gets nice run-off from the mountains which supports a number of large working ranches. Whenever you see a cluster of trees like those in the distance, you can be sure there's a ranch to go with it. It's all about cattle and hay here. I decided to take that way home and leave the pilot car for someone else to follow.

I passed fields still in irrigation but as you can see, some of the hay is cut and ready to be put away or sold. There are a couple hundred head of cattle just on the other side of this field.
This old house is on a large and viable ranch. There are three other abandoned houses on the property, and in spite of this ones condition, it's filled with stuff. All the ranches have "boneyards" but I think this is the only one I've seen littered with relic houses. There's a nice newer one behind those trees. Shakes head~
I had just one more hot thing today before my tasks were done - make quiche for book club tomorrow. We just read Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I'm using my new pie plate that Joe Winter made for me. It's more shallow than either of my other ones but perfect for quiche. The zucchini is from our garden. Finally something has ripened enough to eat! I hope it's as good as it looks.