Happy Spring Equinox!

This is one of my favorite days of the year.
The First Day of Spring!!! 
From here until fall the days are longer than the nights.  For a person who enjoys light, this is a significant milestone.  Yes, we'll still have some below freezing weather occasionally, but this means warmth will prevail!

I've been neglecting my blog lately because I haven't had much for show and tell.  No rug hooking is happening.  I've been knitting and cooking.  The search for the 'perfect' loaf of bread goes on.

This one is getting close.

This week Weis market had cod on sale for a very good price.  Last evening I made fish chowder which we ate with the homemade bread.  Pretty yummy!

Fish Chowder

3 medium potatoes
1 medium sweet onion
2 ribs of celery
1 can of corn
1 1/2 lbs. fish of your choice (cod, catfish, talapia)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon parsley
salt, pepper and cayenne, pinch of each
1 can chicken broth
about 1/4 cup flour
milk

Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces, leave the skins on.  Chop celery and onion.  Put veggies in a soup pot, add corn (do not drain) and chicken broth, and spices.  Cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost done.  Add fish and cook until it flakes easily.  Sprinkle the flour lightly over the veggies and fish while stirring the mixture.  Add some milk and cook a few minutes longer till soup thickens slightly.
Fast and Easy!

My knitting is progressing.  I haven't done much knitting in recent years because it's soooo slooooow!  That's why I don't have much to show for the past two weeks of work.

The sleeves are done but not blocked yet.  They are done in a ribbing pattern.



   I had planned on taking a little break after the sleeves and do some hooking, but the lure of the cables was too much for me.  I had to start the back!  Just to see if I could do it without too much problem.

A closeup of my first little cables.  Aren't they cute!

Since I took these pictures, I've gotten another three inches done.  The cables take some thought but are not difficult.  But I was lying in bed this morning thinking, 'why am I spending all this time on a sweater that I won't be wearing until next fall?'  Good question!  No answer...

The kitties are enjoying the return of the birds and squirrels outside in the yard.  They also keep a watch on the neighborhoods cats who roam through.  Next month the girls will be a year old.  They no longer look like kittens!  They are becoming more settled and willing to sit and be companionable.

Maybe too companionable!  This is Zip's fly tying desk in the evening.  They LOVE Daddy!!!

Deiter, Isabell and Reggie



I don't know what Penny was thinking about, but those eyes just make me smile!

Hope all of you are having a good weekend.

Happy First Day of Spring!!!

The Shades of Gray

  Dreary, damp, sloppy wet, cold...you get the picture!

We have been inundated by the wet stuff this weekend.  It's not over yet.  The creeks are beginning to overflow their banks.  It's a miserable time to travel.

But travel we did.  Not that far in miles, but a cultural world away.  Our friends Chuck and Willa went with us to Harrisburg, PA to the Asia Mall.  This is a small strip mall featuring all Asian businesses, including several restaurants, a gift shop, a video store, a nail and beauty supply store and a large Asian grocery.

We had a lovely lunch at the Thai restaurant.
Chuck and Willa are studying the menu trying to make some serious decisions.

For appetizers they chose a chicken satay with peanut sauce and some spring rolls.

I chose several appetizers instead of getting an entree.  The spring rolls were delicious.  The little round dumplings that look like pot stickers were quite yummy.  The tofu would have been rather bland without the peanutty sauce.

Zip ordered chicken with vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce.

I thought Willa's eggplant dish was the best!  And look at the colors!  Love that purple eggplant with the green and orange and the sauce was to die for.

We decided to pass on the dessert and go to the bakery for take-home treats.
I've had the fruit turnovers on a previous visit.  They are wonderful!  I like to live dangerously and get some totally unfamiliar pastries like the yucca dessert that looks like custard pie.  They also have some savory meat and rice pies that are wrapped in banana (or plantain) leaves.  All are interesting and good.

The grocery is one of the largest Asian food stores in the area.  It's one of my favorite places to stock up on cooking supplies.

They have a huge selection of canned goods, sauces of every kind, candies, cookies, teas, fresh vegetables and noodles.  Oodles of noodles!

And there's fish.  Dried, frozen, pickled and fresh fish swimming around in large tanks.  They will butcher them right on the spot to your specifications.

We managed to make a dreary day into an enjoyable outing!

Now we are home with the woodstove warming our chilly bones. 
Zip is strumming away on the guitar and I am planning to do some knitting.  I have one sleeve on my sweater almost dome.  This is the cardigan that I'm doing with some other ladies from the Knitting at Large blog.

  So far it's been fun and fairly easy.  I wonder if I have the skills to manipulate those intricate cables.

The book is called Knitting Plus (by Lisa Shroyer) and is an excellent collection of sweaters especially designed for the larger woman.

The pattern we are knitting is by Kathy Zimmerman who is a designer who has a shop in Ligonier, PA.  I hope one of these days to get out there.  I hear it's a fantastic place.  It will be a lovely drive when the warmer weather arrives.