Monday, November 22, 2021

Weekending

 Good Morning!

How are you at the start of Thanksgiving Week?  And how was your weekend?  Mine was a good one.  And I feel fine this Monday morning.  A few sips from the first cup of coffee have gone down my throat, Mabel is blissfully quiet at the moment, and it is the quiet time in the morning that I love.

Thursday that cat was the devil!  She did not let up ALL day.  I finally had to shut the office door and keep her out of that room whether I was working or not.  But over the weekend she was very good.  Just look at this yoga pose:


What suppleness!  What a great stretch!  My whole body feels better just looking at this picture - LOL

On Saturday, after going over to Colin & Mailing's to feed Talbot & Marcel, I met up with Dee for a bit of therapy time - you know:  coffee, knitting, chatting.  It was delightful.  Once home from seeing Dee, I headed upstairs.  I wanted to put flannel sheets on the bed as I saw the temps are supposed to get pretty chilly at night this week.  Mabel, of course, raced up the steps ahead of me.  Once I got to the top I could see that she had jumped up on the bed.  Once she saw me, she arched her back, pulled her two front legs up in the air and hopped sideways!  It was the funniest thing and I just wish I had gotten a video of her doing that.

Saturday night I managed to finish the scarf for Zhongren!!


And here is a close up so you can see the pattern and the color of the yarn is much better here:


The pictures are all before blocking.  Last night I soaked it in some Soak and it is now on the blocking mats (hopefully) drying. (still very damp this a.m.).  Blocked out it is roughly 48" long.  The yarn is Jackalope from The Light Brown Hare and the colorway is Call Box #3.  I used #6 needles to knit this and the pattern is Mariner's Scarf - free on Ravelry.

Sunday was filled with grocery shopping and I made a big pot of red beans.  We love this dish and I decided to share the recipe today since I do not plan to post on Thursday.

Red Beans

Soak a bag of dried kidney beans overnight.

In the morning, saute about 2 lbs of Italian sausage - sweet and hot.  I crumbled it up and just let it cook until done.  Remove that from the pot and drain the fat off.

Put a little EVOO in the pot and add in

  • 2-3 big onions choped up
  • 1 green pepper chopped
  • 3-4 stalks of celery chopped
  • some cloves of garlic minced (I used 2 huge cloves)
  • An handful or two of fresh parsley chopped

Stir that all around and let it cook for a bit.  Then add the crumbled and cooked sausage back and throw in the kidney beans.  Add some water (I don't cover it with water, but maybe 2/3 of the way up).  Sprinkle in:

  • 2 tsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp tarragon (I used about 2 or more tsp)
  • pinch of sage
  • salt and black pepper

Let this cook for 3-4 hours.  I bring it to a boil and then turn it off and let it sit...then boil again and turn off - leaving it on the burner the whole time.  Later in the day I smashed some of the beans to thicken up the sauce.


Oh yum!  We served this over rice and had a garden salad to go along with it.  There is some in the frig that Fletch can have for lunch and the rest is in the freezer.  It makes a lot!

I'm expecting this week to be a light one.  My office closes at 1 on Wednesday and Friday is a holiday as well as Thursday.  Today I'm heading to the office as I need printer paper for home and have a few things I'd like to print in color.  I do have some work to do too - LOL

Here's hoping your week is off to a great start!

15 comments:

  1. I often imagine you sitting quietly in the early morning as I read your post, and Mabel is always well-behaved in my imagination! Your weekend sounds like a good one, and I hope this week is indeed a light one. I may be making those beans next weekend. They sound delicious!

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  2. Aw, look at that stretch! It's a good thing that Mabel amuses you to make up for the naughtiness.

    I hope it's a quiet, quick week for you. My office is closing at noon on Wednesday and we also have Friday off. I look forward to this week all year!

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  3. Ooo! That Red Bean recipe looks amazing... I have a red bean recipe that I love... but this looks so easy!

    Here is hoping for a calm week... and Mabel... I am talking to you, girlfriend! LOL

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  4. I remember when our (now OLD) dog, Jenny, was a puppy. Oh, my. . . she was TROUBLE. We often joked that we should have named her "Diablo." She wreaked havoc in my garden, she wrecked knitting projects (that's when I discovered Kid Silk Haze would "melt" from dog saliva. . . ), and chewed through one of my back seat seatbelts!!!! I thought we would never survive. And yet . . . we did. (And now we have a lot of really good stories to tell about her puppyhood-from-hell.) Enjoy Mable -- she's such a beautiful kitty! XO

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  5. I love hearing MabelKitten stories. And seeing her photos. What a perfectly lovely white belly she has. I'm surprised she allowed you to make the bed. My old cats now still give me a few troubles when I make beds.

    The red bean recipe sounds and looks so good. I wish Rick were as big a fan of beans as I am. I'd add it to the rotation PDQ.

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  6. Hooray for a finished scarf. Enjoy your lighter schedule this week.

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  7. Oh my gosh .... those little spots on Mabel are just the cutest!!!!

    Here kitten antics sure keep me laughing.

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  8. Love Mabel’s spots! Your plans for the week sound relaxing - enjoy.

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  9. The scarf is wonderful, but of course Mabel is the star!

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  10. I love Miss Mabel stories, it reminds me of Holly. I bet you are exhausted trying to keep her out of stuff.

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  11. Mabel is adorable! The scarf turned out beautifully!

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  12. Mabel is quite the character!
    I love red beans and rice. I haven't had it in ages. That and some corn bread is my idea of heaven.

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  13. The scarf is so pretty. Here's hoping that light work week materializes for you.

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  14. Pretty, pretty scarf. Mabel is just beautiful and has a fantastic yoga pose. If only I could do that!
    I put the fleece sheets on the bed last week. It's been well below freezing here on many nights.
    Alex & Tara will be here tomorrow. Oh, I can't wait!
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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