It’s wonderful to get back into blogging. Hope you have all enjoyed the holiday period and looking forward, like me, to catching up with all your projects and planned activities for the year ahead.  I didn’t make any New Year resolutions but thought I would try to keep up with the ones I made a couple of years ago, one of which was to practice the piano every day.    O’h dear is all I can say.  I did finish the blanket I spun, dyed and crocheted for my grandson’s Xmas gift and have since made him a cushion with the wool I had over.

WHO PENS LETTERS NOW

During the break I took the opportunity to read some of the letters my mother wrote to me while she was alive.  I have them all in a big box.  Unfortunately she never dated them only the month and most of the post marks on the envelopes are illegible. Reading them brings friends and relations back home in England to life.  She was a brilliant writer and filled up pages with vivid descriptions of her daily life.  My letters to her are stashed away in my brother’s workshop in UK so my history from 1976 until 2000 is there to be retrieved one day.  

The penned letter has been used over centuries to create history, biographies, novels and films.  What is going to happen now that we use electronic messaging;  all those texts and e-mails.  I am now guilty of hardly ever writing an actual letter unless it’s at Christmas time when I write to a couple of cousins and friends who don’t have computers.  

I wonder if you write letters or keep those that were written to you.  Let’s make it a discussion topic;  it will be good to see your replies.  

A TIP FROM THE PAST

I am always looking around for tips to pass on to you and when I found this in the advert for a Retro/Vintage Market at Rosedale in Victoria, I fell off my chair laughing.  Really though this isn’t a laughing matter because it was what wives were expected to do.  Amazing how expectations have changed thank goodness.

 

WHAT ON EARTH IS FROGGING AND TINKING

Although I have been a knitter all my life, when I saw the word “frogging” in a post on a Facebook page I manage, I really didn’t know what it meant so did a bit of research.  I do hope that I’m not the only one to have to admit ignorance, so here’s what I found.

Frogging and Tinking Your Knit Mistakes
Knitting mistakes happen to everyone.

If you happen to notice a mistake on the same row you are on, you can carefully work backward across the row to the place where the mistake happened and fix it right away. This is a knitting technique known as tinking. If you didn’t catch that, tink is knit spelled backward (again, a bit of knitting humor).

However, if you don’t notice a mistake for several rows, you might be forced to do some frogging. If the mistake is substantial and has changed the look of your project – you accidentally swapped the right and wrong sides or missed a cable turn – the easiest way to fix it is by taking the project off the needle and ripping back to before the mistake. You will then have to put the stitches back on the needle.

This is called frogging because knitters are punny and when you frog, you “rip it, rip it.”

As quirky as the word is, it’s not much fun to have to frog your projects. Yet, you will be glad you did rather than leaving a mistake that you could have fixed.

ENJOYING GOOD COMPANY

It’s so stimulating to meet new people and hear their stories.  At a recent coffee morning I had the opportunity to meet Linda who was wearing the most beautiful outfit which I couldn’t help commenting on.  She told me her trousers (blue) were a gift from a deceased friend, her top (multi coloured) was bought on an outing with girl friends and her very unusual necklace was made by a wire worker who was a friend in her craft group.  Of course when I heard the words ‘craft group’ my ears pricked up.  Apparently Linda has recently returned to Victoria after having lived in Tasmania for many years where she participated in quilting, beading, weaving, crocheting, knitting and more.  I asked her if she would like to share a photo of her quilting work on my post and here it is.  I’ve invited Linda to come to a meeting of the spinning and fibre arts group I’m involved in, so hope we will be able to share our interests into the future.  It’s amazing how new friendships can be born.  

 

TURMERIC, THE GOLDEN SPICE

I’ve been looking for more ways to use Turmeric.  Up until recently I have only used it in soups or stews but having read about its wonderful properties, I decided to try it out in a few other dishes.  I have to be bit sneaky or Ken will turn up his nose.  One thing I must warn is that you don’t use too much otherwise the taste will be overpowering.  So far I’ve tried sprinkling into rice, adding to a hummus dip and adding to scrambled eggs.  I did try adding to a latte but that wasn’t to my liking.  

Here’s an exert from an article I read in Silversurfers UK blog about Turmeric.

For ages, health buffs have been telling us that turmeric is a pretty wonderful thing, thanks to its nifty healing agent curcumin – which has some mighty anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
Now a new study published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry has found even more evidence that this golden spice can ward of disease and mental health problems.
Research conducted by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that a daily supplement of turmeric boosted people’s memories by nearly 30% and eased the symptoms of depression.

I have so much more I could write but think I’ll leave it until next time.  Do write in with your comments and ideas.  It would be so good to hear from you.  

Remember we are not too old and it’s not too late to pursue our dreams

Janice