journal 8.31.20

Sleep didn't come easy last night, so I woke up a bit late. There was no work available to speak of, unfortunately, but there was plenty of other things to do.

I snuck out first to drop the wasp specimens off at the WSDA, then I couldn't help myself -- I popped into the yarn shop to grab two more skeins for yet another project that popped into my head. Cleaning, the monthly kitty flea treatment, and then a long afternoon on the balcony knitting and listening to a good book. Quite lovely and peaceful.

 I cast off on Midwinter gift scarf #1! I need to weave in the ends and decide how to finish it...fringe, perhaps? Of course, as soon as I finished this I pulled out more yarn!


Not as pleasant to work with, as it's 100% cotton so a bit rough on the fingers. But, it's the best choice for dish cloths...which is what these are destined to be!


Of course, listening to a good book through the library app makes it more pleasant, even when knitting with rougher yarn. The good news is that dishcloths knit up quickly, so within a day or two I'll have a good supply to meet our needs on hand. We used this dishcloth style for years and years, but instead of replenishing our supply I tried a new design with onion bags. Didn't quite work out for our needs, so back to the tried and true!


I did take a break late afternoon to turn some humble cornmeal into polenta. I had good reason...


I wanted to make this delicious polenta bake! Polenta plus some sauteed leeks, garlic, and broccoli, then mixed with eggs, cheddar and veggie broth, bakes up into a lovely casserole for a cool late summer meal.

Our evening walk through the arboretum and campus was wonderful. Both Mo and I were in high spirits. She had a good day at the workshop, working out some build issues on her current project, so it was a fun walk. We left the overlook before sunset, though, as it was getting chilly and we still had to walk back through the woods. It would be very cold if there was no sunlight to warm us!


I did pick up this beaked hazelnut branch that was laying on the sidewalk. It made a lovely rattle to shake in time with our footsteps on the walk back.


We also saw this little guy. I think it is a Devil's Coach house Beetle. He seemed a bit aggressive, as he kept rushing at us, so we decided to leave him be rather than stress him further.

I'm cozied in for the evening now. A bit more knitting, some strawberry toast, and a warm cup of chamomile are in my future!

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