This week’s routine was varied from the norm by two events. The first was a funeral on Monday, and the second was on Tuesday when I followed my usual schedule of doing the weekly shop. I’d been stymied the week before by the supermarket being out of eggplant/aubergine and had to substitute courgette/zucchini. This week I checked first, and found that none of the local shops carry corn meal. I skipped forward to plan B, and chose a different recipe.
Bzzz
The new car has a nifty feature where the boot will open automatically when you stand behind it. This is very useful if you’ve got a box of groceries in your arms and don’t want to lower the box, open the boot, and pick up the box. With the groceries duly deposited in the boot, I pressed the button to close the tailgate.
Pareidolia
And then realised that all my keys – house and car, plus the phone – were in the boot and the car was locked. If I’d had the phone, I could have used it to open the car. I feebly tried to open the doors but didn’t want to try too hard for fear of breaking it or to setting off an alarm. Cursing my own stupidity, I pondered what to do. I could walk home – it’s only half a mile – and get the spare car key at home, but the front door was locked. I could shamefacedly call the RAC or a local garage to see if they could assist. There were spare house keys in the house, not useful. Then I remembered my lovely neighbours have a spare set. I strode home, hoping they were in, and knocked on the door. They were in, so it was the work of an instant to obtain the spares, and they even gave me a lift back to the supermarket. I am hoping that leaving the keys in the car is an instance of something I only do once.
A Bird in the Bush
On Thursday, I learned a new word – lasskie – although it’s a variant of the more common ‘lassie’. The two born-and-bred Caithnesians on my Thursday morning shift at the museum frequently use local words, and if I can’t figure one out, I ask. One morning, ‘markies’ was in frequent use – that’s short for ‘Marks & Spencer’. ‘Lasskie’ wasn’t too difficult to guess from context, but ‘markies’ had been a puzzler. The context was shopping in Inverness, but I couldn’t think of any stores with that name.
Nasturtium leaves
The knitting hiatus on the gansey was but the blink of an eye, for the new needles came on Monday. I bought lots of spares of different makes. I chose Addi ‘unicorn’ needles to replace the broken bamboo. The tips are on the dull side, so it’s not as easy to split the yarn as with pointier tips, and the needles themselves have a subtle twist like a narwhal’s horn. With the new needles I’ve been able to surge ahead, and have nearly completed the pattern band on the sleeve. I’ve already started to think about which pattern to knit next.
On Saturday, the weather broke. After a spell of perfect summer weather, the rain arrived late in the afternoon. The timing was perfect in truth, for Friday and Saturday were the days of the County Show, which every other year takes place across the road. It’s not as disruptive as one might think. Traffic is carefully controlled – everyone going in or out of the road is quizzed – so there is no parking on the sidewalks or along the road. Because the road is commandeered for a couple of days, the show committee graciously gives residents a free ticket to the show.
Setting up the tents
As agricultural shows go, it’s quite small, but it is one of the bigger events of the year. People attend year on year to meet their friends and have a blether, look at vintage tractors, visit vendors, and see who has won the competitions. I went on both days, after all it was only across the street. The first day had been recommended because it’s quieter and the floral displays haven’t started to fade. But I went because of the fish & chip van. On the second day, I went to have a closer look at the craft stands but came away empty-handed.
Sunny Weather
Today, it’s been raining off and on, and I can hear the clanking of machinery and sounds of the tents and stock pens being dismantled. In a few days, the only evidence will be the trampled field. At least the rain held off – a few years ago, it was so wet that the town’s shops ran out of wellies.
Who could ask for better weather?
So, wellies. It’s not hard to guess that this derives from the Duke of Wellington, the hero of Waterloo and later Prime Minister. The boots themselves, wellingtons, were originally “a high boot covering the knee in front and cut away behind” (OED). What I didn’t know was that there were also bonnets, hats, mantles (cloaks), corsets, trousers, and coats named after the Duke. There was also a cooking apple, a pudding, a sandwich, and of course Beef Wellington. This last could also be prepared with fish or vegetables. There was even furniture – a Wellington chest – which was a tall narrow chest with shallow drawers.
Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to the current gansey. The first sleeve is done! The cuff is in the spirit of the original, which probably had more stitches, and has 2 by 2 stitch cables crossed every 4th row, separated by 5 stitches of k1 p1 ribbing. There are 11 crossings from beginning to end, which neatly brings it to the right length of 3 inches. There will be a hiatus in the knitting for a few days, because on Friday evening one end of the lovely bamboo circular broke in half. I knew it would break eventually and had been very careful, but this failed without any obvious stress being placed on it. More needles are on the way and should arrive Tuesday.
This week the highlight, if you can call it that, was accepting an offer on one of my brother-in-law’s properties. I’ve never seen it except in pictures. The tenant, who has lived there 24 years, decided to buy, and after some negotiation, made an acceptable offer. Now the wheels of conveyancing will start to turn, and I’m hoping there’s no bumps on the road. One down, four to go.
Another highlight of the week, or at least a ‘notable event’, is the heat. On Saturday and Sunday, we basked in a heat wave. When I drove home on Saturday after being in Thurso for the morning, the thermometer in the car indicated 30℃. The temperature gradually fell as I approached home, where it was a more reasonable 20℃. At least the car wasn’t like an oven when I got in. It has a very nice feature where it can be programmed to achieve a certain temperature prior to departure.
Umbellifer and grasses
At home, the windows were opened and the blinds pulled down. In the evening, the skirl of pipes could be heard, from the Wick Pipe Band giving a performance. Having the blinds down keeps it from getting too hot, something I learned to do this while on holiday in the south of France, where houses are shut up for the day to keep the cool in and the heat out. It works, too. Alas, even if I shut all the blinds, it can’t prevent any hot air from rising to the top of the house to my office. This is the only time of year when a fan is needed.
Summer tapestry
During the week, I started a sewing project, the first since last autumn. True to my word, I shopped from stash, choosing some very fine black jersey to make a pair of trousers. The fabric has been in the stash for many years. I bought it online, also to make trousers, but when it arrived it was far too fine for what I had in mind and was set aside. Now, with a different pattern in hand, I thought I’d use up the fabric, and it didn’t matter if I didn’t like the result. The trousers can be ‘at home’ wear.
Poppy heads
I started the sewing yesterday and was in trouble from the first seams. Being black, very fine, and also not marked adequately, I managed to sew the inseams of the fronts together, and then the two back inseams together. It should have been one front and one back together. The stretch stitch was too difficult to unpick, so I trimmed off the seam and its 0.25” allowance. And then sewed the pieces together properly. After that, things progressed more to plan.
Also to plan, I’ve been zipping down the gansey sleeve. The plain knitting is far quicker than the patterned sections and I can get up a good head of steam. It’s starting to look a proper gansey now. The cuffs will slow things down a bit – they will have cables alternating with panels of k1 p1 rib. But it now feels as if the gansey may be finished in the near future.
(Before this week’s post starts – apologies that last week’s didn’t post. I was sure I’d done it properly – it’s now up.)
I finally decided it was time to get out the summer clothes this week, not that it’s summery enough to wear them. It’s been a cool and damp summer, and most days I am glad of my spring/autumn jacket. In the past, this changeover was put off as long as possible. It seemed like a lengthy and arduous task. But one year I realised that it had only taken half an hour. This year, it was delayed due to forgetfulness. It’s always a pleasant surprise to find favourite garments that have been forgotten over the winter.
The car has also had some new togs – car mats. I chose the brightest colours I could find on the internet. They might not be everyone’s cup of tea – orange heel rest and edge trim on a grey mat – but they make me smile every time I open the car door.
Blooming weed
Recently, I’ve changed my morning routine by using a moka pot instead of a big bean-to-cup machine. Gordon loved his coffee, and as a consequence, we’ve had various coffee grinders. The electric ones never lasted very long, but he also bought some hand-operated grinders. I’ve been experimenting with these. One holds about a weeks’ worth of beans, but it takes forever to grind enough for a cup of joe. The other holds about two cups’ worth of beans, and while needing more effort, grinds much quicker. It’s a pleasant morning ritual using the moka pot: the hob is lit, the moka pot is filled with water, the coffee added, and the top clamped down. When the gurgling stops, it’s ready. The rest of breakfast is prepped while it’s burbling away. An advantage over the bean-to-cup machine is that the coffee is hotter.
Busy bee
I’m returning to sewing too, or at least thoughts of sewing. There are so many tempting fabrics and patterns available on the internet. But for the next project, instead of buying new, I determined to shop from stash. There were some treasures found there, fabric buried so far down the piles that I’d forgot them. Some have notes attached, so their purpose is clear, but for the rest, I’ve no idea what I’d planned. In one instance, I got out a pattern, then found a length of forgotten fabric with a note to use just that pattern. And then there was the unopened box, full of fabric bought years ago. From a US site, I had it sent to my sister’s and planned to carry it home with me. A couple of trips later I still hadn’t brought it home, so I mailed it, where it has sat for years. Yesterday I finally cut the packing tape. The invoice in the box is dated 2007.
Summer meadow
With the gansey, there’s been good progress. The band on the first sleeve is finished, followed by plain knitting which is speedier to work. The sleeve band is similar to the one at the start of the yoke, but the diamonds are slightly wider. From now on, it’s clear sailing down to the cuff. The end is in sight.
This week’s routine was varied from the norm by two events. The first was a funeral on Monday, and the second was on Tuesday when I followed my usual schedule of doing the weekly shop. I’d been stymied the week before by the supermarket being out of eggplant/aubergine and had to substitute courgette/zucchini. This week I checked first, and found that none of the local shops carry corn meal. I skipped forward to plan B, and chose a different recipe.
