What’s On Your Workdesk this Wednesday?
Another busy week on the creative front. I had two important cards to make, and made further progress on my knitting.
Our wedding anniversary
Here is the card I made for my hubby. It had to be rather a quick one because I spent so long making his birthday card, and it’s been a very busy time lately. It’s a single-layer card with one of my Florabunda arrangement drawings that I printed on the computer, and then coloured. I painted it with clear gesso first, and then added a Distress Oxide background. After lifting the colour from the design, I coloured it with my Tombow Dual Brush markers.
On the inside I printed the same design but with much reduced opacity to give a watermark effect, with the sentiment printed over the top. I coloured the whole of the inside with Distress Oxides and water spatters.
I wasn’t 100 percent pleased with this. In future I am going to print the drawings on a separate piece of card and layer it on a heavier base card. The inside got very messy hence the amount of inking I had to do to cover it up.
We have been married 34 years! I can scarcely believe it’s been that long. They say familiarity breeds contempt, but not in our case! We get on better now than we did at the beginning when we were knocking corners off each other, and I had to deal with my hubby’s 100 percent commitment to work with no time for anything else, and never taking any time off, and adjusting to married life when we’d both been on our own for a while. We were both in our 30s when we got married. I think it can be easier for people if they get married younger, because they may not have had the experience of living alone and doing what they wanted without any consideration for anyone else! Anyway, during the lockdown it’s been brilliant – I’ve had him around all the time instead of him dashing off here there and everywhere and being as busy as he was when he was working. He has always got very stressed when he has commitments, and for the past few months he has been so relaxed, and it’s been really fun and companionable, and we’ve had some good laughs too.
Here’s a picture of us on our wedding day, 24th May 1986.
Kitties
Now we are three!
On Sunday, the same day as our wedding anniversary, they celebrated their third birthday. To mark the occasion I made them a birthday card! (I know… my hubby tells me I’m turning into a crazy cat lady. Actually, he’s much worse than I am, indulging and cosseting them at every opportunity!!)
I painted an oval with very diluted Black Soot Distress Ink, mixed on my glass media mat with plenty of water and applied with a soft brush. Once it was dry, I made the drawing, using a fine permanent black marker, and added a little shading with the same Distress Ink. The accents are in my new Dr Ph Martin’s gold calligraphy ink which is awesome stuff.
The final touch was to add some spatters with the gold ink.
Here are the birthday girls.
Having some treats.
Later, Lily enjoyed being on my hubby’s jeans on the bed.
I just can’t believe how quickly the time has gone, and that we have had them all this time already! They continue to be an absolute delight every day of our lives, always surprising and amusing us with their funny little ways, and the new favourite places they choose for no reason that is apparent to us! Like any siblings, they have their little spats, and there’s some biffing and growling and hissing and chasing, but they always kiss and make up, and they love to be together. They are so affectionate with us and it’s clear that they know they are loved!
A photo sent to us by the lady we got them from, in the basket with their siblings. Ruby is top right, and Lily is the one with her head hanging out of the basket. I often wonder what happened to the others – what sort of homes they went to, whether they were split up, what names they were given.
Our two little babies, during the first week they were with us in July 2017.
Knitting
I finished the front of the purple circles jumper, having unravelled the neck because it was too tight on the first attempt. I blocked it on my new blocking mats as I did with the back, pinning it out, spritzing it with water, and leaving it till it was dry. I’m so glad I bought these mats – they make blocking so easy!
Once the piece was dry, I joined the front and back at the shoulders. I put it over my head to check the neckline and… the wretched thing was now too large!! This is what happens when you design your own patterns. There’s quite a bit of trial and error. There was nothing for it but to unpick it yet again… This time, however, I was determined not to do it stitch by stitch, which takes simply ages, so I did a search online and found a brilliant way of undoing a large amount of knitting without losing a single stitch along the way. You decide where you want to unpick to, and insert a needle across the work, picking up just the right-hand side of each stitch (the “knit” side of stocking stitch looks like little letter “v”s) making sure you keep to the same row right across. It takes a bit of time and care, but once it’s done, all you have to do is rip back the knitting and it ends up on the needle at exactly the right point to begin knitting it again. This took no time at all. I subsequently knitted up the two sides of the neck according to the redrafted pattern and the result is now fine. I am very glad I took the trouble to do this.
I was determined to get this right, because this jumper is the first I have done from a basic pattern that I have drafted. Once I know that everything is OK, I can use it again and again, simply adjusting the number of stitches and rows according to the tension swatch that I always knit with every new project.
At this stage I decided I really didn’t like the dark purple in the ribbing on the bottom of the front and back. I haven’t liked it ever since I did it, but battled against redoing it, but I knew I couldn’t live with it. I inserted a needle into every stitch of the first row of stocking stitch above the ribbing (as I did when unravelling the neck) and attempted to unravel the ribbing. This proved to be virtually impossible, working in the reverse from how it was originally knitted, so I cut most of it off (really scary!) and pulled away the remaining fragments, leaving just that first row on stocking stitch on the needle. I am now knitting new ribbing downwards, using the same yellow and two lighter shades of purple. A much more pleasing result, which you can compare with the original in this photo.
The next step is to rejoin the front and back at the shoulders, and knit up the ribbing for the neck before I start on the sleeves, just to satisfy myself that all is indeed well with the neck. After that, I will pick up the stitches for the sleeves, which will be knitted downwards towards the cuffs. Still a way to go on this particular UFO, but it’s definitely full steam ahead now and my enthusiasm for it is high.
Food
Recipe of the Week
Saddam Hussein Soup
It’s not really called that – it’s official title is “Iraqi Spiced Lentil Soup” but ever since I started making it many years ago, my family have called it that! I got it from an Iraqi junior doctor working under my dad at the hospital. Dad retired in 1987 so it’s a long time ago! I don’t think there can be any copyright issues associated with it, anyway, so I’ll share it with you.
The only thing I have changed since transitioning to whole-food plant-based eating is the omission of the oil, but if you haven’t got a decent heavy non-stick sauté pan, feel free to add a little olive oil to prevent sticking. I have also doubled the quantity of ground cinnamon and cumin from the original recipe, and added some ground coriander as it seemed pretty bland when I last made it. Being a Middle-Eastern recipe, it is meant to be delicately spiced. It is a very easy recipe to make, and wholesome too. Lentils are full of protein and fibre. It freezes very well. When you first make it, it turns out incredibly thick, more like a paste, and if you freeze it like this it takes up less room. In its thick state, you can use it to stuff things (veggies, vine leaves etc. etc., not soft toys!) or as a filling for a wrap or pitta (I haven’t tried it for filling cracks in walls), and all you need to do to turn it into soup is dilute it with some water or veg stock. So it’s pretty versatile. It serves 6-8.
Ingredients:
1 lb red lentils
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
20 grinds black pepper
Method:
1. Wash the lentils in a sieve under the tap, and put them in a large pan and cover with cold water.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer until the water is absorbed. Stir frequently to prevent it sticking. Add more water if necessary. When the lentils are cooked, they can be mashed if desired.
3. In non-stick sauté pan, dry-sauté the onion over medium heat, adding a little water as necessary to deglaze the pan.
4. When the onions are cooked, add the spices, and cook for about 30 seconds.
5. Pour in the lentils and stir well. Add 2 cups of hot water and the seasonings. Reduce the heat to very low. The soup is done when it is boiling.
Enjoy! (Sorry, forgot to take a photo.)
Seed Sprouting and Microgreens
This has turned out to be a very satisfactory exercise. Last Thursday, 21st May, was day 15 since I started, and I have had several crops of sprouted seeds. My favourites are definitely alfalfa and fenugreek; I am not quite so keen on the red cabbage or pink kale, because on their own they taste a little bitter, but you don’t notice when they were with other things. The only reason I might consider doing those again is because of their appearance – they definitely have more colour. They are quite small and delicate too, which is a different texture from the more robust alfalfa after the same number of days. We are eating them with our salads, as a garnish for our wraps, and so on.
My tendril pea microgreens were definitely ready to harvest by Thursday morning.
Growing them on kitchen paper is so easy; you don’t have to worry about contamination by compost or growing medium, and it’s a simple matter just to snip them off with sharp scissors, close to the pea shells at the bottom.
The roots have penetrated right through the paper in some places. I just lifted the wad out of the tray and dumped it in the compost. The paper will rot down.
The microgreens ready for the fridge.
I have now started another batch, this time twice the size, in two trays. Now that I know that it works, this is definitely something I shall be repeating. I have tasted the peas and they are really crisp, with the most incredible intense flavour of the raw peas I used to pop in my mouth when shelling peas as a child. At some stage I may try transplanting some of them outside and letting them grow to maturity. Peas are soooo good!
Happy anniversary and happy birthday to the kitties too. Love the cards. That gold ink is lush. The soup sounds delicious. I might steal that recipe and try it myself. Stay safe and happy WOYWW. Meow to Ruby and Lily. Sarah #7
Happy Anniversary to you both! Lovely photo and great card to celebrate as well – and why not make a cat for the kitties, they’re an important part of your family?!
Hugs LLJ 2 xxx
Happy Anniversary to you. What beautiful outfits the girls, and bride, are wearing.
You are amazing! You’re determination to get the result that you want is inspiring. I have been there with knitting but never with beautiful coloured knitting like yours. It’s a pleasure to follow.
Happy birthday to the kitties, still as pretty as ever.
Have a good week
Christine #24
Happy Anniversay! Hope you had a lovely day!
Congratulations on your anniversary and to the kitties as well. I think they struck gold when they went to your home together, so the card with a touch of gold is perfect. I have snow peas growing in pots currently and your system looks so much quicker and simpler. So many good ideas on your post. Stay safe and keep creating.
Sandra de @15
congratulations!!! How lovely – yes it does take a little time doesn’t it . Hubby was only saying this morning that we have got on so well in the lock down, we both though we might not ha ha. We celebrated our 37 th last week. We got married in our 20’s but he was in the air force so we started married life away from all family in N Ireland. Happy birthday to your kitties too. Have a great week. soojay #27
Hi Shoshi. Congratulations on 34 years! We had over 44 and, as you say 0 it gets better the longer you go on! Great cards there today – and oh my, what a lot of work you are having to achieve on that sweater! I’m sure it will all be worth it in the end.
Take care. Stay safe. God bless.
Margaret #5
Hi Shoshi, wow, doesn’t seem like 3 years since you got the kitties! That is such a beautiful wedding picture, what a fabulous dress. I have a bottle of Dr Martins Bleedproof White, it can be splattered over other colours but retains it’s whiteness.Great job with the sprouting. Have a great week, Stay safe, Hugs, Shaz #17 X
I’m loving the look of your micro peas! We’ve got mange tous / sugar snap peas in the garden and I’m desperate to pick some of the shoots but just about resisting. These micro ones might save me! Best wishes, Lisa-Jane (#23)
Hi Shoshi, yo always have such interesting things to show us. Lovely photo of your wedding day, gorgeous dress. Love the kittie photos too. Now I wonder if they liked their card, i can just imagine what the dogs would do if I made them one. Wishing you a lovely creative week and a happy woyww, Angela x19x
Your cards are beautiful – I love the floral design on your husband’s card and the way you’ve printed it paler inside – a lovely touch and the card for the kitties is adorable – and why not, our Guinea Pigs get Christmas presents! So lovely to see that beautiful knitting again, and I can’t believe firstly how patient you are unpicking it and then how brave you are cutting off the band at the bottom! I do see what you mean about the colours, I think the paler colours match better, and if something niggles you at the start those niggles are never going to ease off!
That’s a fabulous photo of you on your wedding day, what a stunning dress, and I love the pictures of the kitties when they were babies – I have to agree and say where has that time gone!
Hope you have a lovely week,
Diana x #21
Helloo Shoshi,
How lovely to make your aquaintance. I think we’re going to get along very well.
First of all many congratulations on your 34th. I absolutely love both your dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses, is there some Eastern European heritage? There’s a wonderful folksy look to the outsfits , I’d wear one of those bridemaid’s dresses in a heartbeat!
Your cats are absolutelg gorgeous, all the best people are the crazy cat variety. I bet they loved their card!
The Saddam Hussein soup sounds just my sort of thing. How funny about the name, you don’t associate that evil dictator with something so tasty!
The microgreens look really good and your knitting project very ambitious, I can just about master a square!
Have a lovely day! Vix xxx
Great anniversary card and love the cats, What a lovely weeding photo, love all the dresses,
Have a good week stat well and safe,
Well done – reworking the rib, however much avoided, means that you will wear it when it’s finished; compromise is no good in these situations. Brilliant way to frog the unwanted knitting, and very very brave to cut it! Congratulations on your anniversary. We were married in 1985; I was four months away from my 21st . My wedding dress was a lot more obviously commercial and traditional, I think yours is absolutely wonderful, what a about of love! I grow peas shoots too, absolutely love them. I use compost. I have a couple of trays at varying stages – just planted, half grown and just about to harvest, because I don’t like to have a gap in my supply!!
Happy Anniversary! I love your card, but especially that photo of you both at your wedding – stunning. Happy Birthday to the kitties as well – such cute photos of them. Sorry for running late this week, stay safe. with love & God Bless, Caro xx (#4)
I understand you undoing the knitting part you didn’t like – I am like that you know! (I even guess I would have unpicked the whole thing out and start over!) I loved seeing that wedding photo, congrats on the anniversary. The ‘story of your marriage’ is something I think many will recognize and feel the same. Sorry I am late too with my visit this week, I got pretty occupied once my parcel/materials arrived. Happy belated woyww, have nice weekend! Love from Holland. Marit #25
Hi Shoshi! First, Happy Birthday to Lily and Ruby!! I remember when you first got them, so cute, and they still are! And Happy 34th Anniversary! You and I have been married the same length of time, and you were married 2 days before my daughter was born! I love your wedding party, such a beautiful dress!
Your lentil soup sounds delicious and easy peasy, I may just have to make it, even though hubby says he doesn’t like lentils. But I do! I’m doing weight watchers at the moment, and this soup is zero points so, perfect. Your sweater is certainly giving you some challenges, good for you for keeping on top of it. I probably would have given up long ago. Have a great week, Lindart #33
PS-the card for the kitties is wonderful. You should frame it and hang it on the wall for them! Lindart
Hi, I found you on vintage vixon’s blog. And, I love your post. I eat a lot of lentils too and shall definitely use your recipe. I was wondering what ethnicity your wedding dress is? It’s lovely.
How I missed this I do not know but thank you for pointing me to the wedding photo. What a lovely photograph it is and how unusual to see a wedding and bridesmaids dresses in this style. I take it they are Romanian? You look so beautiful and hubby is very handsome.
Loved the photos of the kitties, they are so adorable and to see them when they were small is brilliant.
Thank you so much for pointing me to this post. Scrolling back for another look at the wedding photos.
Hugs, Neet xx