It Has Begun

Last weekend, we started packing. I hadn't intended to pack as much as we did, but we got into it and before we knew it, the dining room looked like this...

Both the cabinet and the desk are empty and we're using the dining room as our storage-for-boxes area. This weekend, we tackle this...

In truth, it isn't as bad as it looks because most of the boxes have been there, unopened, since our last move. I know there are some who would say that since we haven't even unpacked them, the stuff inside them really isn't needed so we should just get rid of it. That's a valid argument, but the reason we didn't unpack them is because we knew this place would be temporary. We will, however, be going through each box this time. I refuse to live with unopened boxes in the new place.

There are items in these boxes that I've been missing, but I haven't had the desire to even find the right boxes. We'll probably have a garage sale at the new place (we'll have room for one now) to help unload us of some of the stuff. Some of it will go to charity, some will be thrown out and some will be saved to pass on to kids and grandkids.

It hasn't been all packing, though. By now, I'm sure you've gathered that I like being creative. Knitting has been ongoing, but there really isn't much to show you. A few more rows of garter stitch really doesn't make for pretty pictures. I have, though, made progress on the second skirt of the Shetland Christening dress. I now have one lace motif left to do and then it's into garter stitch for that section as well.... endless garter stitch on 2.0 mm needles.

And then there's cooking. I don't know what inspired it, but last weekend I made this....

It's Dijon mustard. We were almost out of the commercial dijon, so I went recipe hunting. This one sounded like it could be really good, so I went to the bulk store next to the print shop where I work, bought the ground mustard I needed, got home and cooked it up.

It's a little thicker (I thinned one jar down with a bit of white wine) and a little grainier than the commercial dijon mustard, but the flavour!! Oh my, this is good stuff! As it ages a bit more (the recipe says 2-8 weeks), it should get even better. In all honesty, I don't think I'll ever go back to commercial dijon mustard again.

Oh, while I think of it... if you want to download any of the recipes in my sidebar, do so before the end of May. They're uploaded to my own web space and we'll be switching internet providers when we move and that web space will no longer be available. That also goes for any of the files on the Strings 'n Things Designs page. Once we move, they'll no longer be available there so get them while you can.

I will, of course, post them again at some point, but that will be some time down the road, after we're all settled in. In the meantime, I'll leave everything up as long as I can.

Now, where do we start with this office????