That's Gneiss! #152 ~ The apple, egg curry, and Utopia
Plus: cozy crochet, and just go watch the original Utopia
Oh hello.
I’m lagging a bit today, but that’s all right. Who isn’t lagging just a bit - or a lot? I’ve been on the phone with family, taken a little nap, and sat outside in the sun with the dog. It’s been a good day!
The Apple
This morning I noticed one of our apples stuck on the fence.
It had to have been put there by a person, probably a guy who walks by every day and kicks apples off of the sidewalk to get them out of the way. When I removed it, it was stuck pretty firmly onto the wire. No way it could have lodged there just from falling from the tree. These are pretty crummy apples - they all look like they have worms. We don't eat them. We just pick them up and put them in the yard waste bin. The pigeons, crows and squirrels love them! They’re good for kicking.
Egg Curry
A few nights ago Michael made egg curry for dinner. Apparently eating eggs with curry is common, but we’ve never had it before. He found this recipe for Egg Drop Curry and decided to give it a try. He followed the recipe closely, other than cooking the sauce early and letting it sit for a couple of hours before finishing up for our dinner. That extra time sitting allowed the flavors to really settle nicely. At one point our kitchen smelled just like a restaurant.
It was really good.
Michael is looking forward to trying more of the recipes from this site called Show Me the Curry! I’m looking forward to eating them!
Utopia
If you’re considering watching the new Amazon Prime show Utopia, STOP.
Instead, go find the original UK version from 2013-14.
It came up in Friday’s chat thread (please pop in and say hello). Michael got really excited and insisted that I sit down and watch at least the first few minutes. Those that know me well know that I’m not much of a movie/TV watcher. He doesn’t insist I watch something unless he thinks it’s really worth it.
Here’s the opening scene, which some say is better than the entire first season of the remake.
An hour later, I tried to remember to breathe.
I was out of sorts for quite a while.
It was really, really good and disturbing and had me on the edge of my seat.
I’ll save you the trouble of having to go and find it - here’s the first episode.
Don’t waste your time on the new one. The Guardian the “sanitized remake is no match for cult TV original” and calls it a “damp squib of a series.”
What’s a damp squib you ask?
A 'damp squib' is something that fails ignominiously to satisfy expectations; an anti-climax, a disappointment.
Anyhow, you might not want to watch it just before bed.
Tidbits
Short today - it’s getting late!
The Mask Barons of Etsy - a few people made A LOT of money…
Making: SO MANY LITTLE SQUARES! I’ve been getting into my Big Art class and painting with the high flow acrylics. Super fun! I could do these little squares all day, but will try some other techniques soon.
Recently eaten: it was a good week for food! Besides the egg curry Michael also made a beef bean soup that was delicious. The beans looked like little stones before cooking.
Reading: I finished a read-through of Alphonso Dunn’s Pen & Ink Drawing today. Next I’ll start back at the beginning and stark working on the exercises in the workbook.
Eye Candy Corner
You may recall a few weeks ago I mentioned I was buying some yarn so I could crochet a blanket for myself. The yarn purchase turned into something of a debacle. I thought I had changed the delivery address to our new address during the order process, but NO. It didn’t take and everything got delivered to our old house. There wasn’t a lot I could do but watch and wait - I alerted our old neighbor who alerted the new people and I was ready to figure out a convoluted way to get the yarn to my via a drop-off at the library and delivery through inner-office mail and/or paying for postage myself.
I watched the tracking, and the yarn was coming from three different warehouses! Just swell. The traveled to Oak Harbor… out for delivery… forwarded (YAY!)…
RETURNED TO SENDER.
Sigh.
I tried to call Michaels but they were suffering some sort of technical difficulty that made it impossible to talk with an actual person.
CREDIT! The biggest package made it back and they issued a credit. OH THANK GOODNESS.
I reordered, and made sure it’s being delivered to the correct address.
What does this all have to do with eye candy?
I have been following Lucy of Attic 24 for years. She’s a self-taught crochet designer who’s color palettes are the most cheerful thing going. She presents her work in such an enticing way that you can’t help but feel comforted.
Her instructions for the various blanket designs are also very clear and easy to follow. I’ve made three different blankets using her tutorials - neat ripple, granny stripe, and cosy stripe. I’ve also used her instructions for joining granny squares. I haven’t decided which pattern I’ll use this time - maybe I’ll try something new or go back to the cosy stripes. Or the granny stripes.
Lucy’s Instragram is a nice mix of her bright work and the beautiful English countryside where she lives. Every time I visit her page I feel better about the world and am inspired to create more colorful bits for my own corner of the world.
Videos of the Week
Public Enemy has a new album and it’s pretty good! Salty language warning.
But of course - it’s Public Enemy.
If you’d prefer something without salty language, try this!
Current Temperature: 56.7F (13.7 C)
Current Humidity: 91%
Wind (max gust): 9.2 mph
Precipitation: 0.0 in
Air Quality Index: 16