1.17.2014

deep in the heart of winter...

having survived the recent deep-freeze and the cold/flu epidemic that tagged along for the ride, i am back to using the dreariness of deep winter as an excuse for eating yummy things.  i had fried plantain slices and a Mineola orange for lunch every day this week...



and we took a break from eating marathon amounts of sarma (the subject of my very first post here) to enjoy a dinner of homemade calzones...



stuffed with spicy Italian sausage and a mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses.  i even tossed in some fresh rosemary and oregano from my window herb box...



and served them up along with a very rustic marinara.  by rustic, i mean... too lazy to chop the garlic, so i just smashed the cloves and left them whole.  [the sauce is usually served on the side and NEVER inside the calzone.  if there's sauce inside, then you're not eating a calzone.]



i've also discovered a recent fascination with pears.  it's usually a bit of a his and hers situation around here with him reaching for the pears in the market while i gravitate toward the apples and grapes. but,  i can't seem to get my fill of the delicious pears we've been getting lately...



which means that there's probably another upside-down pear cake in the near future (this one was from a few months ago, and it was yummm).



on the fiber end of the diet, i've been doing a lot of dyeing and even a touch of spinning in the last few weeks.  i finally got around to to finishing up the merino top i started working on waaay back in October.  this drop spindle was a gift from my Sweetie when i first started spinning for sanity back in grad school.  it is still the only one i have that i did not make myself.



the wool was dyed during last spring/summer's dyeing frenzy, in a combination inspired by my calico kitty...



i added a healthy splash of goldish-yellow to the mix for bright cheerfulness.



to preserve the color changes, i split the top lengthwise into 4 thinner sections and lightly pre-drafted each into a loose nest all ready for spinning...



into a single-ply, fingering weight yarn.



i left it on the niddy noddy for several days...



but there was still quite a bit of twist in the end.



it needs a soak to set the twist, but... that is some mighty sweet-looking yarn, if i do say so myself.






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