February Monthly Photo Challenge - Food

Eileen at A Bracelet of Days hosts a monthly photo challenge; the theme for February was Food, which was suggested by Joy at Forty Three the final front door.  I thought it was an excellent theme.  Here are my selctions for February's photo challenge:

Milkrice and Seeni Sambol

 
As most of you know, I make milkrice on the first of the month for brunch as it is considered an auspicious food.  Seeni sambol is a spicy cooked onion relish.

Bagel and Chicken Cold Cuts Sandwich 

Sauteed Chicken Breast and Salad

Homegrown Kale

Homegorwn Lemons

Paratha and Chicken Curry

Kare Pan (Curry Bread) From a Bakery

Curry Bread: Curry Filling Inside

Homemade Curry Puff

Zuppa Toscana Made by Daughter

Pancakes with Sugar and Lemon Juice

Fresh Fruit - Pineapple Grown by M
(the pear was a gift from him, but not grown by him)

Beef Curry

Slightly Overbaked No-Knead Bread

Almond Flavored Sugar Cookies

French Toast
(My mother always called them Bombay Toast)

Rice and Curries
(Beef curry, Sauteed cabbage, Peach chutney)

More Rice and Curry
(Rice, Cucumber salad, Sauteed, curried, hot dogs)

Indiappa (Stringhoppers) with 
Chicken Curry and Seeni Sambol

Hope you enjoyed the February Photo Challenge and hope it didn't make you too hungry!

Thank you Eileen for hosting the monthly photo challenges and thank you, Joy for suggesting such a great topic!  I enjoyed participating.  

Another Finished Project

 

Daughter's New Sweater

On Sunday, I finished knitting daughter's sweater.  It is the same style as the one I knitted for myself, but, she wanted her sweater to be a little longer.  I started knitting the sweater on January 16.  It took me just over 3 weeks to knit the sweater.

The Back of the Sweater

Daughter tried it on today; it fits her well and she is very pleased with it, which makes me happy.  

Now I am wondering what my next project should be.  I have some quilts in progress that I could finish and I have some clothes to be altered.  Of course, there's always paperwork and filing to be done, too!  What do you think?

Monthly Photo Challenge - January: Begins with A

Eileen at A Bracelet of Days set the theme for January's monthly photo challenge as "Begins with A".  Here are my finds; let's just call it the plant version!

 

Asparagus Fern - Foxtail Fern Variety

Anthurium 

Aloe Flower Stalk - Starting to flower

Aloe Flower Stalk - Flowers starting to open

Avocado Plant
(Still Alive!)

Agave

Aeonium

Yes, there are other things that begin with A, but, apparently, I never made it out of the garden!  LOL. 

Thank you, Eileen, for hosting the monthly photo challenge.  I enjoyed taking part in it.  I'm looking forward to Februrary's challenge.

A Finished Project: New Sweater

Back of Sweater: Stockinette Stitch

I finished knitting the sweater I started on December 29, 2025 and finished sewing it up, today.  It was my "de-stressing/relaxing" sweater.  The back was done in stockinette stitch (knit on one side, purl on the other), which was very quick and simple.

The Front: Cables

The front started out being in stockinette stitch, too, but, then, I decided that I didn't like it so plain.  I unpicked everything down to the ribbing, and chose to do cables.  I debated between a V-neck or a round neck and decided to go with a round neck.  

I rarely block my sweaters, which is why the sweater looks the way it does in the pictures above.  I'm not slim enough to fit into a sweater that small.  But, the cabling gives the sweater a lot of elasticity.  

My New Sweater

I used four and a half balls of 100 g (3.5 oz) wool for this sweater.  I have more balls of wool in this same color for another planned project.

Today, I am grateful for:

- My new sweater
- My yarn stash

- Being taught to knit when I was a child
- Time to knit
- What I was able to accomplish

Today's joyful activity was finishing and wearing my new sweater.

My next knitting project will be a sweater for my daughter.  I'll use the same brand of yarn, but, a different color - a cream wool called "Aran" on the label.  She wants hers to be a longer length.  I'll be casting on the stitches for that after I publish this post.

Are you working on a project currently?

Relaxed Days

 

Blueberry Muffins

We are having spring-like temperatures, this week, with daytime highs in the 70s and maybe even the low 80s towards the end of the week!  The evenings and nights are cool, though, 

I have been taking it easy, spending a little time in the garden, knitting my sweater, and doing little things around the house.  Meals have been simple - leftover French toast and scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast, salad with baked chicken for dinner, crackers and peanut butter for snacks, cookies and fruit for dessert.  

But, on Tuesday, I baked a batch of blueberry muffins, using homegrown blueberries I had frozen.  I tweaked my muffin recipe and omitted the salt and the muffins still turned out quite well.  In fact, daughter preferred them to the muffins I generally bake.  

I am grateful for:

- The sunny, warm weather
- Daughter's help with tasks around the house
- Time to relax and knit
- Salad greens from the garden
- Working appliances

Joyful activities have included spending time in the garden, knitting, spending time with my daughter.

Plans for Wednesday include tending to the garden with M, knitting, and maybe ordering groceries.

How is your week coming along?  What are your plans for Wednesday?

On Sunday

 

3-D Puzzle Vase

One of daughter's friends who visited her on Saturday gave her a 3-D jigsaw puzzle as a holiday gift.  Daughter asked me if I'd like to help her assemble the puzzle and together, we made this vase!  There is a plastic container, inside, which can be filled with water, making it possible to use the vase to display flowers.  

Sunday was another sunny day with an afternoon high of 72F.  In fact, it was warmer outside than inside and we opened the doors and windows to air out the house and bring the warmth in, as well.  I walked a bit in the garden and picked more lemons while daughter watered the raised beds.  Later, I watered the houseplants.

I did a load of laundry in the morning and put away a load of laundry that had been done, earlier.  Daughter did her laundry, afterwards, and vacuumed the living room.  My blood pressure was a little elevated, so, I took it easy for the most part, watching videos and knitting.

I made pancakes for brunch but we did our own thing for dinner.  I finished the last of the soup and had a scrambled egg and crackers with peanut butter for a snack.  Daughter had rice and salmon with tomato chutney.  

On Sunday, I was grateful for:

- A sunny and warm day
- Lemons from the garden
- Working appliances
- Daughter's help with household tasks
- Time to relax, watch videos, and knit

Joyful activities included putting together the 3-D puzzle vase with daughter.

Plans for Monday include putting away my laundry and knitting.  

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for Monday?

On Thursday

 

Sweater Front

On Thursday, I finished knitting the sweater front, after starting and unpicking and reknitting.

It was a sunny day and I enjoyed spending a little time out in the garden, checking on the plants and taking a few pictures.for the monthly photo challenge (the theme for January is Begins with A if anyone wants to participate; the very simple guidelines of a minimum of 5 photos taken during the month are here on Eileen's blog).  

I spent most of the day taking it easy, watching videos (mostly gardening videos) and knitting.  Later, I cooked a chicken curry and a pot of fresh rice.

Brunch was peanut butter toast and a banana.  Daughter had a salmon sandwich.  For dinner, I had toast with some of the soup I made yesterday.  

On Thursday, I was thankful for:

- A sunny day
- My blood pressure reading was better this afternoon than it had been yesterday
- A working heater and other appliances
- Time to relax and knit
- Access to the internet

Today's joyful activities included spending time in the garden and knitting.

Plans for tomorrow include an appointment with the oncology nurse practitioner and tending to the garden with M (he mentioned wanting to prune the roses when he was here on Wednesday).  If he does prune the roses, I want to take a couple of cuttings to see if I can get them to root.  So far, I have been unsuccessful doing this.  Has anyone rooted rose cuttings and got them to grow?

Settling into the New Year

3-D New Year's Card

My friend K (late neighbor T's daughter) sent me this, 3-D paper hasket of flowers, along with a little matching card, as a New Year's gift.  Isn't it lovely?

Sunday was another rainy day, with heavier showers in the late afternoon.  I slept in, tidied the dining table, watched news and videos, knitted and unpicked and knitted, again!  I'm working on the front of the sweater; and halfway through the front, I decided that I didn't want a plain stockinette stitch for the front, too, so, took out all the knitting and started again with some simple cables.  Except, I forgot to twist one of the cables and didn't notice the mistake until later, so had to unpick again and reknit!  

My friend S called and we chatted a bit and exchanged New Year's greetings.  

I had leftover uppuma for brunch, toast with peanut butter at tea time, and leftover potroast for dinner.  Daughter had pot roast sandwiches.   

On Sunday, I was grateful for:

- More rain!  The garden has been well watered.
- Online videos to watch while I knit
- My yarn supply
- Working appliances
- Phone calls and emails from friends

Sunday's joyful activity was knitting.

Monday was mostly clear and we even had some sunshine!  I walked in the garden, a little bit, and checked on things.  And I picked a few lemons and some salad greens:

Garden Produce

I made myself a sort of omelet and a salad for brunch:

Monday Brunch

Later, I had some yogurt with some of my homemade cranberry sauce and granola.  Daughter had a salad, but, didn't want an egg.

Once again, I spent the afternoon, watching videos and knitting.  I called K to thank her for the 3-D paper basket of flowers and chatted with her for a bit.

Daughter returned to work (remotely) after her winter break, but, after she finished working for the day, she changed my bed sheets for me and did a load of laundry.  

For dinner, I cooked some rice with green peas, and warmed up previously cooked and frozen chicken curry, green beans, and garbanzo beans.  We had tomato chutney with our rice and curries.  I had dates and a chocolate for dessert; daughter is trying to avoid sweets as she wants to lose some weight.

On Monday, I was grateful for:

- A break in the rain
- A walk in the garden
- Lemons and salad greens from the garden
- Daughter changing my bed sheets and doing a load of laundry for me
- Working appliances

Monday's joyful activity was spending time in the garden.

Plans for Tuesday include ordering groceries for pick up.  

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?

 

Rainy Saturday

 

Asparagus Fern Berries

It's been raining on and off all day, today, with the heaviest rain falling during the afternoon.  The rest of the time, it was either drizzly or cloudy and grey.  There was a flood watch during the afternoon, but, there was no flooding in my area.  There is more rain in the forecast for Sunday (1 inch of rain is what the forecast is saying; to put that in context, our average annual rainfall total is just under 15 inches).

I slept in this morning and spent a rather relaxed day as my daughter is still insisting that I rest!  

I checked my blood pressure twice, today; the first time, it was slightly elevated, but, it was better when I checked the second time.  

I put away half my load of laundry that daughter washed and dried for me and I managed to turn the clothes hangers on one side of my closet the other way around before she came to see what I was doing and got upset with me for not resting!  

So, I spent the rest of the day knitting, watching news (lots of news happening!) and videos online, playing some Sudoku online, catching up on blogs, etc.  Later, I called friend R and chatted with her and wished one of my cousins for her birthday.  And still later, daughter helped me to put away the rest of the laundry - I folded the items while seated on the sofa and she put the piles away for me!  LOL.

I cooked uppuma with semolina, adding cashews to it, along with curry leaves and chilie pieces, etc., for brunch.  I had a guava strudel at tea time and had more of my pot roast for dinner.  Daughter had egg salad sandwiches for her dinner and a guava strudel.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Daughter being so caring and concerned about me
- Rain for the garden
- It didn't flood in my area
- Working appliances
- Electricity to run the appliances

Saturday's joyful activities were knitting, chatting with friend R, relaxing, and plenty of "me" time.

Plans for Sunday include more relaxing and taking it easy.  

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for Sunday?

December Monthly Photo Challenge: Christmas Decorations

When Eileen at A Bracelet of Days set the theme for the December Monthly Photo Challenge as "Christmas Decorations", I thought it would be an easy prompt because I usually decorate the house for the holidays.  However, daughter was mourning the loss of Dancer and apart from putting the tree up, stringing the additional lights, and hanging four ornaments on the tree, we didn't decorate the tree or the house!  So, there are barely any Christmas decorations to photograph!

However, Daughter did make some ornaments to give as gifts and I took pictures of three of the four ornaments I did hang on the tree as they all shared a common theme.

So, we have a theme within the theme of Christmas Decorations and that is Pokemon!

Pokemon Themed Ornaments

Daughter designed and drew the decorations based on several of the Pokemon characters, printed them out on sticker paper and applied them to the ornament blanks she purchased (for a total of $0.59 for three 4-count packs of these square ornament blanks, one 25-count pack of clear disk ornaments, and 1 ball of the chunky yarn she used to make the teddy bear she crocheted, taking full advantage of sales, coupons, and store rewards).  

Psyduck made a snowduck

Snorlax

Mimikuy dressed as a Christmas Tree

Eevee in her Santa hat

Gengar tangled up in Christmas Lights

Pikachu Snowman

Charmander in a Santa Hat

Bulbasaur with a Christmas Tree instead of a Bulb

Pikachu Tangled up in Christmas Lights

Thank you, Eileen, for hosting the December monthly photo challenge.  I enjoyed participating and I hope there will be more monthly photo challenges in the new year, too.  

New Composter

 

New Composter

One of the gifts my daughter gave me for Christmas is a composter!  In all my years of gardening and composting, I've either made compost heaps in the garden (mostly for the yard waste) or dug holes in the ground to fill with plant based kitchen scraps which get covered with soil and then, planted over with flowers or vegetables.  But, after falling in the garden several times, daughter was concerned about me falling on my trips to the compost pits, and bought me a rotating compost bin.  It has a dual compartment bin and two doors that slide open (not visible in the pictures I took of it).  You give the bin a slight downward push and it rotates and the composting kitchen scraps inside the bin tumble around which helps them break up.

Daughter assembled it on Christmas Day and I had her put it outside in the "patio" area, right next to the back steps:

Within easy reach of the back door

Having it near the back steps makes it easy to access, without having to go out into the garden.  Technically, I could even stand on the steps to drop the kitchen scraps into the bin (once the barrel is rotated to access the sliding doors).  

Thank you, Daughter, for my new composter.

Today, Monday, I contacted my primary care physician to discuss my concerns about my blood pressure spiking.  I had woken up feeling fine, but, when I checked my pressure, it was quite high.  Well above normal.  I didn't even have my usual morning cup of tea because I didn't want the caffeine to raise the pressure even more.  I asked the doctor if I should take a higher dose just to get the pressure back under control.  But, the doctor assured me that there was no cause for concern.  She said to continue to take the medication as I have been doing and there was no need to increase the dosage of the medication.  She also told me not to take my blood pressure as soon as I woke up, but, to do my morning routines, have my breakfast, etc., and then check the pressure.  She also told me to reduce my stress levels and that the pressure will stabilize again, over time. 

So, I took it very easy, today, and started on a new knitting project.  Knitting is a stress reliever for me (crochet is, too).  I decided I will knit a new sweater with yarn (100% wool) that I had already bought when it was on sale, back in 2023!  The medications and the knitting were a successful combination and kept my blood pressure under control.  

Daughter didn't let me do anything today!  She cleaned the fridge, took the kitchen and bathroom trash out, and took the big trash bins out to the curb, washed and put away the dishes, etc.  

I made myself a one egg omelet for breakfast (doctor had told me to eat more protein) and daughter picked greens from the garden to make us both a salad for lunch.  We had leftover almsgiving and Christmas food for dinner.  

On Monday, I was grateful for:

- The doctor's reassurance that the pressure spikes are nothing to be concerned about

- Access to medical care

- Daughter taking care of me

- A relaxed day of watching videos online and knitting

- My new composter

Monday's joyful activities included knitting!

Plans for Tuesday include going for a blood test.  Daughter will go with me, just in case she's needed.

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?