It was a slightly busier week this week, for preparations for Christmas events are starting to populate the diary. Two additional handbell meetings have been scheduled, and the first took place Wednesday morning, when we practiced Christmas carols. We’ve been booked to play at nursing homes and befrienders’ groups scattered around Caithness, plus a booking for a ‘team building’ exercise. There’s also a carol service just before Christmas, which we’ll do jointly with the Caithness Brass Band. We’re sounding pretty good, and it’s still just November.
Late Roses
On Tuesday, the hospital phoned with a choice of appointments for the next excision. The soonest choice was the following Tuesday, or later in that week. I chose the Tuesday (tomorrow)so that it would be done and healed by Christmas. Later in the day, they phoned again. My first thought was that they had to cancel, but instead they had received a cancellation and were offering me that slot. However, I had to decline, as it was for the next day when I had extra bell practice. Tomorrow is soon enough.
Later in the week, I ventured into the kitchen to bake a cake. A few weeks previously, I’d impulse-bought a punnet of three persimmons. Not knowing what to do with them, I found a recipe online for persimmon cake. When I finally came to make it, the first hurdle was to solve my lack of baking powder. The second was to figure out the right size of pan, as the recipe specified a size I don’t own. The solution to the first was sodium bicarb and an acid. For the second, some maths and sideways thinking – I made two smaller ones instead. The sodium bicarb was an excellent substitute, and one of the cakes is in the freezer for later consumption.
Leap in the Dark
As it’s been an uneventful week, I’ve surfed the internet for interesting content. On this day in 1558, Elizabeth I ascended to the throne of England upon the death of her half-sister Mary. Elizabeth was 25 and reigned until her death in 1603 at the age of 70. One of her first actions was to re-establish and consolidate the English Protestant church, which had suffered under Mary’s Catholic reign.
In 1970 – and this is significant to every computer user – Douglas Engelbart received a patent for the computer mouse. As well as the ubiquitous mouse, Engelbart pioneered many other user interfaces for computers, such as hypertext, networked computers, and graphical interfaces, thereby making computers more accessible.
St Fergus’ through the trees
The cuff on the gansey has been finished and cast off. The simple band around the bicep breaks up the acres of plain knitting without being overpowering. The stitches for the second sleeve have been picked up and five rows knit. The pattern band, when I get to it, should mirror the first. Gordon found that nothing needs to be done to the pattern to accomplish this. It sounds counter-intuitive, but because the pattern is rotated 180°, it stays the same. Progress on a gansey rarely seems speedy, but after the last one, this one seems to be rapidly nearing completion.
Such a beautiful gansey, love the band around the arm.
Beautiful pattern as well, simple. But maybe looks deceptively easy?
Good luck with your excision. Hope your cake was delicious.
The pattern is quite easy – just panels of chevrons repeated over and over. The cake was delicious!
Margaret