Rose Cottage

  My granddaughter Kayleen called this week with a request. She was trying to crochet a hat with leaves for her kitty, and was running out of time - could I possibly make it?  A number of kids at college have service animals, and she's entering Zella in a costume contest ... yes, of course I could!  KK sent me the patterns ( hat and leaves ), explained her ideas, and brought over the yarn and a couple of hooks.  My kitty Percy wasn't very cooperative, so I brought out Galina -  ᎦᎵᎾ -  to try it for size. (And - of course - she wanted one of her own).  ᎦᎵᎾ in Zella's leafy hat So I made her one with dragon-red flames, and a second leafy hat for one of the other kitties -  Charizard amigurumi is modeling the second. (Do you think his hat and ties would be better in the green?)  Charizard and Galena  KK was delighted! And offered to leave the yarn, 'I know where to find it if I need it again!' ...  That green yarn and modificatio...

 Turnip carving -  This was fun! I was intrigued, reading about the tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns in the British isles, using turnips!   (In her post on the 17th, Vedya mentioned this old practice!) Carving turnips goes back hundreds of years, long before new world crops (including pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes and other plants) were introduced. In Switzerland, they hold a turnip lantern festival, called Räebelichtli Umzug . Turnip hollowed with a spoon   So - I got the largest turnip in the bin, heated it  about 10 minutes in my Air Fryer (to soften it a bit), then used a knife and spoon to scoop out the interior, and then to incise designs.  Carved and lit from within Since they are smaller than the new world pumpkins used these days, a battery tealight is suggested for lighting; I used a real candle for the pics - and made the handle from twine. Another side My friend Kathleen Schulte sent me this Pic of a carved turnip they spotted at...

 Gong Xi Fa Cai! Blessings this year of the Dragon If you've followed my blogs for long, you'll know I love holidays, ceremony rituals! Am annual favorite for over a decade is cleaning and preparing for the Asian of lunar new year. My friend Gwynne is a Feng Shui practioner, and has lovely tips on her  blog  for celebrating Chinese New Year, including:  'Roll 88 cases, or 88, or 8 single oranges one by one through your front door (& every exterior door that enters your home) and across your threshold, as well as real coins, ingots, gold chocolate coins into your home & business to symbolize filling them with abundance of good luck & prosperity. Then share the fruit with friends & neighbors.' Rolling oranges and coins Here's a citrus 'money tree' from a decade ago in the Galloway House -  there's an old Chinese legend of a tree with branches of coins & gold, - when you shake it, the gold falls like rain from heaven! This year I have a ...

 Winter is prime time for garden planning, and savoring the bounty in seed catalogs with a warm cuppa is a cozy way to cheer up cold grey days! In a recent post, a favorite gardener and chef in Wales, Gaz Oakley, remin ds us to consider flavor, and include heritage varieties!  Black cap raspberries   In my garden journal (Poteger Devotional) from 2006, I added this quote,  "For too long vegetable gardening has been obsessed with shape and SIZE.  Better that care be lavished from tilth to table on growing tasty food whose beauty is a bi-product to be relished." Montague Don, the Sensuous gardener. In a later chapter, he comments that there was a shift to growing for size and quantity when men took on a larger role, as there's  'an inbuilt relationship between Horticulture and gastronomy when the person(s) cooking/ preparing the food is involved!' Field peas, pansy,  chickweed, broad beans still fresh and green after the freeze In traditional cultures ar...