Kim the quilter finished Daphne's quilt and sent me a text. I picked it up on Thursday. On went the binding. Here's how it looks with about 3' and one corner still to sew.
I had to cut a little more binding, because I didn't have quite enough already cut and sewn together. It makes me wonder if maybe the jellyfish fabric wasn't 44" wide. However, when I bought the fabric, I counted on perhaps needing a bit more, so I still had enough. I hope to mail the quilt off in the next day or so. Daphne's birthday is May 14th.
Before I got the quilt back, I managed to work on the Oregon Autumn Cardigan a bit more.
By the time I picked up the quilt, I had another inch done. I've worked the second chart from bottom to top almost twice.
Tuesday evening we had our Madroña Vineyards pop-up "meeting." Several of the participants had gone on the 2024 Annual Passport event, an opportunity to experience more than 20 family-owned wineries throughout El Dorado County in California, with "signature food and wine tastings, reserve wines, and other surprises" at each winery. Our friends from the pop-up meeting (basically a wine-drinking party) told us that Madroña, the chef had prepared a dish called "Dorie Greenspan's Paris Mushroom Soup." One of the participants shared the recipe with the rest of us, and, since Charlie had gone rogue during the last grocery-shopping trip and made purchases not on my list, we had lots of mushrooms, I made the soup, substituting some ingredients so I could make it with what we had on hand. It was delicious, even with my diminished sense of smell.
Here's the original recipe. I rewrote it for myself, because some of the wording didn't make sense, and I wanted to save it to my Recipe Box app with the option to make half of it (since it's just two of us) and to use the slow cooker. Here's my version:
Paris Mushroom Soup
(Half recipe in parentheses)
• 1 1/2 (1 small) onion, diced
• 3 (2) large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 (1) T unsalted butter or olive oil, divided
• 24 (12) oz. mushrooms sliced
• 1/2 (1/4) t salt, plus more as needed
• 1/4 (1/8) t freshly ground pepper plus more as needed
• 1/3 (1/6) C dry white wine (5 oz or 2 1/2 oz)
• 2 (1) sprigs fresh parsley (I used 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 (1/2) sprig fresh rosemary (I used 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 6 (3) C water
• 2 (1) bouillon cube
For garnish: sliced mushrooms and chopped scallions, fresh parsley and chives.
Directions:
Heat half of the butter or oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the remaining butter or oil, increase the heat to medium, and cook, continuing to stir, until the mushrooms release their liquid, 3 to 5 min. Increase the heat to high and cook until almost all of the liquid evaporates, 6 to 8 minutes more. Add dry wine and let boil until it, too, almost evaporates, about 2 min. Transfer to slow cooker and add parsley, rosemary, water and bouillon cube. Set to slow cook 6 hours.
When the time is up, remove and discard the rosemary sprig (it will have lost its leaves). Blend the soup directly in the pot with an immersion blender until very smooth. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Add garnish to each bowl of soup.
Friday morning the dogs were going nuts. I looked out the window to see two deer in our front yard.
When I looked more closely, I noticed that they seemed to be eating the dandelions. I should let them into the backyard, where we have lots! I think this one is a young male. It looks as if he has buds for antlers.
Our Voters' Pamphlet came in the mail. The ballots haven't gone out yet, but people in Oregon can still register or change parties up until April 30th for the May 21st primary. I noticed that not all of the candidates are in the pamphlet. Since this is a primary, and some candidates are unopposed for their party's nomination, their participation was optional. The candidates provide the information, so some just didn't bother, I guess.
Meanwhile, we watched the goings-on in various courts. It's interesting to see (rather hear) our judicial system at work. I remember watching the Watergate Hearings and listening to the McCarthy Hearings, but those were Senate hearings, not the court.
That was the day I had to go to the ophthalmologist and pick up the quilt, so I only got snatches of it plus the summary at the end of the day.
Wow! Zach was chosen as "Student of the Month" at Misty's Dance Unlimited, where he takes a variety of dance lessons. He really loves dancing, and it uses a lot of energy.
So why did I go to the ophthalmologist? I discovered a cyst on my eyeball on Monday. It doesn't hurt, but it felt as if there was something there, which caused me to look in the mirror. I went to Urgent Care. The PA diagnosed it at a conjunctival cyst and recommended I use regular soothing eye drops and make an appointment with my ophthalmologist. He was unavailable, so I was seen on Thursday by another doctor in his office. This doctor wanted me to have my regular doctor remove it surgically, so we planned to set up an appointment for that. She also gave me a prescription for some anti-inflammatory drops to use along with the regular drops. It could go away on its own. It doesn't affect my vision, but it's one of those things that needs to be attended to.
I also had an issue with my hearing aids. That came on gradually. The first thing I really noticed was that when I was listening to my audiobook using the Bluetooth function, only the right one worked. It seemed as if I couldn't hear as well, either, especially with my left ear. I remembered that the audiologist said I should change the wax filter about once a month and if I didn't hear the soft scraping sound when I rub my finger across the top of the part that goes over the ear, it probably means that filter needed to be changed. There's a special little tool for that. I had practiced that in the office, but now couldn't remember where to insert the tool. I found a video on YouTube. I didn't have to watch the whole thing, because once I saw how the person started the process, I remembered. It fixed both the problems.
Saturday was the one-year anniversary of my last tweet on Twitter.
Oh, and Sandy got the registration cards for our trailer and truck. Each card has a bite out of it. I can just imagine explaining to the clerk at the DMV, "My dog ate it." Fortunately, they are still legible, and the renewal dates are coming up.
I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry or Spoutible if you need information.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Money in a Jar, Billy laments that he doesn't have enough money to buy a new LEGO set, but he's put this one together so often it isn't any fun anymore. He and Veronika have a discussion about learning to manage money in this reedited story from The Doll's Storybook, which came out in August, 2019.
<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
