Unfinished post

Today I am better organised.  Honest!
The Sicilian cooking went OK. The pork and pasta was disappointing - maybe cos I had no penne so I used the bows.  It was tasty enough the first day but the mint flavour didn't last and I was fed up of it by Friday.  It isn't the most attractive dish ever, either:

The aubergine capanata I'd had before.  It was why I wanted to try Sicilain - it was as good as expected and the taste lasted well too.  This version had pear and sugar in - the pear was a good addition but I don't think I'll put sugar in next time:

This week is Japanese:

Chicken and egg rice bowl and peas with ginger was today's and it was tasty:

I'm going to do smaller portions this week, cos fresh cooked is tastier, even if it is more faff.  So to come is

• Okinawan slow cooked pork , beans with sesame dressing and miso ramen
• crab, cucumber and wakame salad and carrots cooked in dashi
• simmered chicken meatballs and wakatake
• miso soup with carrots and mushroom and cucumber and shitake salad

It was my first trip back to Beeston in Bloom on Saturday.  There weren't many there but it was very pleasant company

and me.

We got the long borders tidied up:

 And the other thing I wanted to say more about was the sewing. 



The book I got the tambour idea from is:
The cover is gorgeous and is done in chain which is where the tambour hook comes in.








Time is playing tricks this week.  I'm having trouble remembering the date and the days are just flying.  I intended to do so much and before I know where I am it's time to take the dog for her late night walk.
No more pictures of my present sewing project cos I want Diz to be surprised for her birthday.  But here is my new toy.  A lot more practice is needed, and probably a bigger hook. 

Went to Bretton today:

Here's a detail:

And here's a blip in big!












What is it?





And now it's time to take Angel a walk - it was a weigh day on Friday - she's 7.6kg.  Yes it is where she was 2 months ago, but now her weight is heading in the wanted direction.

Refresher course

Not only have I refaced the blog and rearranged upstairs, I've also decided that to get me back into cooking for myself I am going to theme (!)
This week is Sicilian (Out of the European option) and not just because I've got the white wine open.
It doesn't mean I have to do fourteen Sicilian meals - just three really - and I'm using the first site I found. Did you ever read Luke Reinhart's the dice man (which was much more fun than Sheldon's version if I remember it correctly.)?
So: Sicilian Summer Salad/Insalata alla Palermitana
Caponatina di Melanzane
Penne con salsiccia, funghi e piselli
Maybe a review and photos next week.

Went with Diz and Angel to Bolton (notloB) Abbey yesterday:

This is the valley of desolation, I think.

Sort of finished a square of her hanging:

Sort of means that I got fed up of doing it. It needs more embelishment but I need to finish more so that I can make sure there is a balance. That sounds better, doesn't it?
And went on a trip to Scotland via:















Today me and Angel went up Miggy woods and for the first year in the four I've been taking her, the stream is still all dingly dell in July:

Sicilian Summer Salad/Insalata alla Palermitana

With a lump of warm ciabatta and a glass of the white that was open.  V Tasty.
I've got my ramble back.

Still can't find any words

Before

After

While Angel was getting her hair cut, I spent the day in Morley.  There are a lot of yards and heres a vies of the town hall clock through the archway into one.

When they stripped the plasterboard from Leeds central library, they discovered this on the ground floor. The tiled hall now leads between the art gallery and the library.

And this is the ceiling.

Details

Not a lot to say

I went to church yesterday for the first time in months.  These are two of my favourite windows:

I took the photos in November, intending to make cards for the Christmas Fair but then Mum had her stoma and they never got made.

She died, peacefully, on Friday. 

This is her birthday picture.  She wouldn't do an open mouthed smile because of the state of her teeth.

More and more cheerful soon.



Whitby on my mind part 2

That's the trouble with writing Saturday night - Sunday morning comes along with time and new ideas.
This was a choice of two for my blipfoto.  I followed GirlKojak's advice and tried picmonkey to edit my photos and this is the collage result.

The one I posted for my photo of the day was of Angel

Dog on a diet





We went for a reweigh at the vet's on Friday.  Had I mentioned she'd gone from 5.8kg to 7.6kg in a year? And after a month's slimming diet is 8kg?  So I go walks empty pocketed from yesterday morning and the bowl goes down once a day, even if, like today, there is a pile of leftover meat on Mum's plate.  I think the problem is
she's not getting a long mid-day walk
she's low energy (some say bone idle)
so she combats less food with more sleep.

Back to me. 
I am now sleeping under my summer quilt and will photograph it when it is finished tomorrow - DEADLINE
The sketchbook challenge for July is circles.
The Every Inchie Monday theme for the week is borders. 
Don't I like making lists?
I'm going to go and make one so I don't forget all the things I might want to play with in Whitby.