First, we made chili sauce. It’s SO good, holy. Tomato, onion, green pepper, vinegar and pickling spice. Easy.

Then we made peach jam. I say ‘we’, but I really mean my mom did it all. I just peeled and chopped some very ripe peaches and did a web search for jam. She put candied ginger in it, and it’s delish. Although it didn’t set properly, but that’s fine too. She did a second batch with maraschino cherries in. I’d eat it.

I didn’t get to take any jam home, but hopefully it will still be around in her freezer next time I am in her ‘hood.

They tasted pretty good, but seemed to be missing something, so at the last minute, as they were cooling, I added a large pinch of ground cloves (I would have put whole ones in but didn’t have any) and a couple peppercorns.

Seriously, mmm.

Pretty! I am also in the process of making 8-ball zucchini stuffed with quinoa…

To explain the pattern: I have 11 colours picked out, and will do 10 as centres, then split them into 10 separate bags and do a round of each other colour, and so on and so on. Somehow this makes sense in my head, but sounds completely wrong typed out. Anyway, do this twice, end up with a lot of hexagons, figure out a way to attach them together=blanket. The main problem is my lack of ability to stick with a large project. I honestly can’t even remember what size hook I started with!

You can see my colour swatch in the middle, although it’s incomplete. I am adding the navy blue, dark purple (instead of white) and red.

Why oh why didn’t I write down the hook size?? GAH! Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board…

We get the Dignam catalogue in the mail regularly and the latest one came with a gift certificate with a scratch off for $980.oo off your next purchase of land from them! If anyone is interested in this, I would happily mail it to you!

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

This came after some debate on the specifics of religious ritual (which is why Bruegel would have chosen it I’m sure, as that was a big issue during his time); with Jesus saying that it’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out of your mouth, explaining (my paraphrase):

What you eat passes through you and leaves your body, but the words you speak come from your heart, and when evil comes from your heart, these defile you — eating with dirty hands will never defile you.

The reference itself is actually from the Katha Upanishad (about 900 BC, Vedic), which was first translated into Persian, and later made it into Europe and has been widely referenced;

The Hereafter never rises before the thoughtless child (the ignorant), deluded by the glamor of wealth. “This world alone is, there is none other”: thinking thus, he falls under my sway again and again.

There are many in the world, who, puffed up with intellectual conceit, believe that they are capable of guiding others. But although they may possess a certain amount of worldly wisdom, they are devoid of deeper understanding; therefore all that they say merely increases doubt and confusion in the minds of those who hear them. Hence they are likened to blind men leading the blind. The Hereafter does not shine before those who are lacking in the power of discrimination and are easily carried away therefore by the charm of fleeting objects. As children are tempted by toys, so they are tempted by pleasure, power, name and fame. To them these seem the only realities. Being thus attached to perishable things, they come many times under the dominion of death. There is one part of us which must die; there is another part which never dies. When a man can identify himself with his undying nature, which is one with God, then he overcomes death.

As it is often said that one should read the book instead of watching the movie, it’s often better to read Vedic scripture than Christian scripture. Anyway… Sorry about the poor photo.