the weekend

 saturday morning, greg and i picked korrina up in queens and drive out to montauk to check on the house since the tenants have left.

 we had a wonderful afternoon visit to the beach.

 i fell asleep . . i always feel that i have the best sleep when lying in the sun on the sand with the waves crashing at my feet (these are korrina's feet, however).

 making dinner . . 

 we stopped at the dock for clams . . steamers weren't available yet . .

 and had organic hot dogs we found at the local iga, along with grass fed beef and broccoli salad from the king kullen supermarket in bridgehampton . . and salads from herb's market in town (our favorites: cole slaw and potato salad).

 playing may i . . 

 we all did well . . but greg did the best and went out twice without points.

 our dessert . . 

 we cleaned up a few items the tenants had left and did a small load of laundry and then headed home this afternoon. we stopped for lunch at hampton chutney and had a picnic on the lawn in front of the car. we had to order with our phone and then they called us through the shop door when the food was ready. everyone was wearing masks and practicing social distancing. we had to stop at hampton coffee on the way home as starbuck's in bridgehampton wasn't allowing anyone into the store, and i had to use a bathroom. thankfully, hampton coffee had a good system in place where you entered with you mask on, ordered from the cashier, and received a cup that you could fill yourself. and their restroom was available. perfetto. we dropped korrina off at home around 5:30 and were home by 6 pm. there wasn't any traffic along the brooklyn queens expresssway . . very strange, but i suppose not surprising under the circumstances.

 chanda finished the sweater she was knitting.

it's grace by denise bayron with quince and co osprey yarn.

sunday morning poem

alone

lying, thinking
last night
how to find my soul a home
where water is not thirsty
and bread loaf is not stone
i came up with one thing
and I don't believe I'm wrong
that nobody,
but nobody
can make it out here alone.

alone, all alone
nobody, but nobody
can make it out here alone.

there are some millionaires
with money they can't use
their wives run round like banshees
their children sing the blues

they've got expensive doctors
to cure their hearts of stone.
but nobody
no, nobody
can make it out here alone.

alone, all alone
nobody, but nobody
can make it out here alone.

now if you listen closely
i'll tell you what I know
storm clouds are gathering
the wind is gonna blow
the race of man is suffering
and I can hear the moan,
'cause nobody,
but nobody
can make it out here alone.

alone, all alone
nobody, but nobody
can make it out here alone.

by maya angelou (1928 - 2014)

baking class and merriweather cafe

 by 9:30 am i had the kitchen prepped for a baking class with the anna tasca lanza cooking school in sicily.

 chanda let me borrow her computer and she went off to work. today was the re-opening of the cafe she works for. i then talked with morgana until around 10:45, discussing the play greg and i watched last week and the fate of theatres in general amidst covid19.

 it was an extra fun class this time around . . one of the assistants had her mom attending, which caused a little bit of teasing as the mom was having trouble shaping her cookies and the assistant was getting a little annoyed. no one minded . . there was just a lot of laughter.

 bocconcini . . little mouthfuls . . almond flour thumbprint cookies filled with raspberry jam and marmalade and one almond. i added extra almond extract to mine, and they came out incredibly delicious.

 pluto is ever hopeful for a hand out . . 

 these two logs were eventually sliced into cantucci. the marsala wine that was added was not as flavorful as the almond extract used for the bocconcini. i'd love to bake a new batch using vanilla and almond extract (or anise!) rather than the wine.

 it was a very relaxed time and i even got to ask about the language that is spoken most in sicily . . which is sicilian! and not italian. sicilian is not a dialect; it's a whole other language with spanish, arabic and a bit of french influences. neither duolingo or pimsleur offer sicilian online. it's possible i can find a cd from the library when it re-opens.

 a treat for greg . . he was on a conference call that lasted all day.

 the beautiful and delicious bocconcini . . 

 in the afternoon i walked to merriweather cafe and ordered one of their sandwiches for lunch. it was wonderful to see them back in business again, for take out and delivery orders.

 i had avocado and salmon on whole grain toast with a poached egg, capers, radishes and cucumber; along with cold brew coffee and oat milk.

 the finished cookies . . 

and sweet pluto.

dye project results . .

the onion skin dye was successful. i love the color.

 
however, today i tried dyeing the second skein of cotton yarn with powdered pomegranate extract . .

and it did not go well, unfortunately. i'm not sure why . . perhaps i hadn't cleaned the pot out well enough after working with the onion skins? from my research, it should have dyed a golden yellow. i'd like to dye over it, but i'm not sure what plant dye would help it look better.

pluto parked himself on top of a yarn stash bin while i was looking for a particular skein for chanda.

wednesday dye project

 i set up the kitchen for dyeing a large skein of cotton yarn i had purchased from downtown yarns in april (they were doing home delivery service at the time).

 these are two gorgeous skeins of galler undyed cotton . . i think that they were, perhaps, too beautiful to dye, but i wanted to experiment with plant dyeing . . so . . on with the project!

 in april i had simmered about 50 grams of onion skins i had been saving for several months, plus a bagful from janet . . 

 and then i stored it in the refrigerator until my new stainless steel dye pot arrived. the old enamel one had a deep rust hole, which would have affected the dye results.

the new pot: a 22 quart pot for $20 . . from india and found on the amazon website.

 getting 8 ounces of cotton yarn to submerge itself in the water takes a little bit of time, and heat. it finally slipped under when it started simmering . . 

this was the scouring and mordanting process . . 2 tbl liquid scour and 2 tsp of soda ash per 16 ounces; followed by 4 tbl aluminum acetate.

 hmmm . . no treats during this cooking spree, pluto.

 i used a mask and gloves for this first part . . 

 

but these yellow gloves had a hole in them, and then pluto managed to dig his claws into the second pair i had, as they fell off the towel rack into his clutches.

 i think the next time i dye, i'll refrain from scouring and mordanting with chemicals, and just do a gentle wash with castile soap. the mordanting helps the plant dye color last through many washings, but i think that maybe i wouldn't mind the gradual fading that would happen.

 on to dinner preparations! korrina called while i was chopping shallots, carrots and zucchini.

after saying goodbye to korrina, i realized it was wednesday, and time for class with wendy.

cooking, dyeing . .

and a few tendus . . and that was the extent of dancing for the day.

here comes pluto. he had better luck with getting something to eat this time around . .

chili dinner . . 

and one skein of cotton yarn dyed with onion skins in its lavender castile soap bath.

risotto

i made risotto this evening with asparagus from the green market . . it was the best i've ever made, as it was incredibly creamy. i think i used more broth than i usually do.

poem for a sunday morning - week eleven

spring river flowers moon night

the river is smooth and calm this evening,
the peony flowers bloom.
the moon floats on the current.
the tide carries the stars.

qian qi (china, tang dynasty)

----

my sunday afternoon walk photos:

 say hello to the goose family . .

 chanda saw them a week ago, and they crossed my path this afternoon . . 

 i'm sure they're waiting for their goslings to grow before moving on . . 

evening treat . . chanda and emily walked downtown today, to battery park city and visited duane park patisserie . . . and chanda brought back two small lemon tarts for greg and i.