A Bit Of Heat

Tomorrow, is the knitting potluck thing.
I've got to decide on something, tonight.

I'm not done weaving the ends in of the 70s thing.
And haven't finished the other things, yet, either.

Haven't really made much this year.
Sometimes it's hard to get into.

When my hand was fractured, 
I tried knitting with the cast on lol. 

It's kinda annoying how awkward it is, 
but it's still possible.

I knew a lady who went to the same Church as my family, 
she had one hand and she knit all kinds of great things.

I have a blanket she made, to repair. 
She made it for my Grandmother who passed it to me.

I've always wanted to try to weave on a loom. 
One of those ones that has the thing that comes down
to tighten the... I want to call it weft.

The thread that goes across with the shuttle thing.

Anyway, a thing comes down to kind of beat it down. 
To make the fabric tight, I guess.

There are videos I was checking out about
how they make linen from flax. 

From growing it, to spinning it into linen. 
It's pretty wild. How they can go from a plant
to a fiber, to a fabric. 

Same process, probably as making thread or twine
with hemp. 

Pretty sure hemp's more robust than flax. 
Process could be different in some ways, 
but could also be similar in other ways.

If you wanna invest in anything. Bamboo. 
One, it grows fast and easily. 

Two, it's used for all kinds of stuff. 

I don't mind the paper straws or whatever.
It's the wooden forks from Taco Bell. 

I'd like to be able to taste my food
without having to taste the wooden fork. 

It's like that wooden spoon thing
that comes with the ice cream. 

Had to use it to eat the ice cream... 
But you couldn't 100% enjoy the ice cream, 
BECAUSE OF THE TASTE
OF THE WOODEN SPOON THING.

That's how I feel about the fries supreme.


Mall was nuts this weekend. 
Well, it was nuts yesterday. 

And a lady stopped her cart next to mine
to have a chat while we stood in line
at the cash. 

She was saying that Trump wants to
somehow cancel daylight savings time.

I'm not saying he does or doesn't. 
I'm just saying what the lady told me.

As we waited, in line, at the store.

Imagine if one country was fighting with another country
to change their time to THEIR time?

30 days has September, 
April, June, and November. 

All the rest have 31
Except for February.

That's how I was taught in school. 

There was a song about the colors of the rainbow.
I forgot that one, how it goes. 

And we actually played games:
Like "What time is it Mr. wolf?"
"Red light, green light."

And games we made up.

Like "Eggs, Bacon, Chips, or Cheese, 
Which one would you rather please?"

So we had to pick one, 
and we spelled it out and everyone got a letter, 
but the person who got the last letter
was "out" until the next game.

Or lost the game when it got down to the last two. 

Then there was marbles and we had a "hill" in our
"courtyard" thing and the kids just mostly played there, 
in front of our houses, or at the back of our houses, 
or at one of the parks, mostly the one
in our neiborhood. 

Anyway, that "hill" was how I learned to ride my bike. 
To "start" peddling, I just went down the little "hill"
to create the momentum to get the bike going
so I could peddle it. 

Last time I was in that neighborhood, 
the little "hill" is gone.
The tree in front of that kid's house is gone.
The tree we used to play "cars" underneath.
In the dirt and shade.

It was fun because we made trenches for the cars, 
and the cars talked to each other lol. 

It was us, but we were the cars lol. 

This was around 7 or 8. 
My brothers were too little to play those cars.
My youngest brother was just born. 
My younger brother was around 3 or 4.

Anyway, the neighborhood changed, a lot. 

The fences we used to have, are higher now. 

The reason that made me think of why, 
would be to prevent "criminals"
from running out the backdoor and jumping the fence, 

High enough not to be able to jump over it.

Just so many memories from when I was a kid 
are gone. 

And they changed the name of the pool I went to.
I'm pretty sure it had waves, 
but my mother's convinced otherwise. 

There is a wave pool in this city, though. 
I went to it a long time ago. 

Anyway, a lot has changed, but
I was mentioning that we used to actually play
games and interact with each other.

When I was a kid. 

Then somehow games we used to play
stopped being "fun" and we got into other stuff. 

But, yeah, we used to actually do stuff
like climb trees, ride our bikes, build forts, etc.

We were mostly outside. 

I had a vantage point from one tree, 
of the entrance of the neighborhood. 

I knew when someone was leaving or coming in. 


Anyway, I'm making yam things for the thing.
I got a couple of yams and a can of coconut milk. 

I mashed up the yams after boiling them, 
and added the coconut milk, 
then put it in a tin, like a mini cupcake tin lol
and it's in the oven. 

I'm thinking about making more of another kind.
Butter and herb and cheese ones.

Last time we mostly brought desserts.
(Which isn't a problem lol).

So I thought I'd try something different.

Never know, yams and coconut might actually
compliment each other in some weird way.

The thing is that I forgot that the oven isn't big enough
for the tin to fit in and the oven door to close all the way.

So if it turns ou super weird, at least I tried something.
If they like them, bonus.

If they all look at me weird, at least I tried something.

The thing with potlucks is that most people
don't know what to bring, 
but as long as everyone brings something, 
it's a surprise food thing.

"It's a surprise food thing."
Well, it is in a way.
Because you don't know what others are bringing
until you show up with your food
that you brought
for everyone to share.


It's a thing, though. I like it as a concept.
So we'll see how this goes.

Probably one of the simplest recipes ever.
One with only two ingredients only.

The other one, I forgot to get milk, but I have
half a can of coconut milk left...

It'd probably be weird for the other variety.
I'll have to see if I can squeak by (improvise).

So yeah, I don't like cooking or baking much.
Never been good at it.

This recipe is just something I made up.
So if they don't like it, 
they don't have to.

Just chalk it up to something "different" lol.

So yeah, at least I'm putting in some effort.
Maybe start a yam thing tradition. 

The tradition of the yam things.

I had one for a bit of watching
Black Christmas around this time of year.

Just because it's kinda raunchy, the original. 
I heard that it was remade, but I forget what year.

Yameroids. They look like the asteroids of the vegetable world.
Their weird shapes don't make them easy to peel lol. 
One I chopped up, it was curved right on the end lol. 
It grew like that, but they have strange shapes.

Imagine if nobody tried yams?
How would they know how they taste?

How did they discover them?
"What are these things growing in the ground?"

Imagine if they ate them raw?

Maybe people made a lot of soup type of stuff.
I have made a lot of soup type of stuff. 

It stretches out what you've got. 

I can make something orange related.
I bought a big bag of small oranges.

I have oatmeal, jam, and oranges. 
I mean what can you expect from "the weird one"?

It's not like I have everything. 

The yam things are cooling down in the oven. 
I turned the oven off. 

While contemplating what I'm making next.
Some weird cheese things, maybe.
Some weird orange things, maybe.

My mom used to make "meat muffins."

They were like "muffins" but like a meatloaf. 

And she'd put ketchup on top of them
before she put them in the oven, 
so the ketchup would bake on the top.
While the meat was cooking...

Anyway, thought of making that, but I dunno.
Maybe try these things first.

My weird food experiments.

At least I'm not using the weirdest ingredients.
I'm just making mashed yam things. 
And whatever other weird things.

And I'll have something to bring, I guess.
Whether they'll like it or just be polite about it
if they don't lol. 

I won't be offended. If they suck, they suck. 
Like I said. At least I tried something.

Maybe I should have put some butter on top
before I popped them in?

I was going to get some type of sauce and try something.

From what I know, you need a base.
Then you can add something for texture, 
and something for taste.

For taste, it brings the taste of everything together.

The reason I chose yam for the base, 
is because it has a type of "starch"
that gives it "consistency."

Because it's a "root" type of vegetable, as we know.
I changed the consistency
by adding another consistency 
and baking it.

Anyway, consistency, texture, taste.

In this case, it'll taste like yams, 
but also coconut.

Which might be weird, but... 

And the other base, I have instant potato stuff, 
and some sauce. 
And some cheese.

The other base I have is oats. 
Oranges, jam.

Maybe I'll get decent at experimenting
then sell my weird recipes.

The weird "cupcakes" that aren't really cakes,
They're just stuff pretending to be a cake.

"Shhhh it's just a yam thing."
Secret ingrient: Imagination.

So never know if you'll like something
unless you try it.

Weird combos of stuff, might be "different"
in a not so bad type of way.

If you don't like yams, don't try it.
If you don't like coconut, don't try it.

It's combined and baked.
I'll try one when they cool down.
Never made this before.

Desserts are easier to make than snacks.
Depends on what you like, I guess.

If I use this method, for myself, 
I could probably save on money, more.

Just so I could have a couple each day, 
until they are gone, make different ones etc.

Anyway, there's so much sauce at the store.
A lot I haven't tried. 

I was thinking about making something
completely different, but I didn't want to freak people out
with spices because a lot of people...
They don't like heat.
Not even a bit of heat.

But something to experiment with, in the future.
That way I can just have stuff to eat during the day.

And I won't have to worry about keeping costs low.
Because I can portion it out that way, for myself. 

Different variety in an easy form for consumption. 
Just convenient.

I'd actually be happy if I didn't have to eat lol. 
It's kind of like a distraction from other stuff.
Because, always have to consider xyz, abc, def, ghi, jkl, 
mno, pqr, stu, and vw.

On the phones, for the letters for each number...
Q and Z are missing.

7 is PRS and 9 is WX Y

0 is operator. 

I still use the letters for the numbers.
To have a combo for words.
Combo of numbers for words.

Anyway, kind of nervous about tomorrow.
Don't know why. 
Maybe a part of me is thinking:
What if they don't like it?
Maybe it'd be funny to see their reaction?

Lol invent something and test it out on people lol. 
As long as it's edible lol. 

"C'est quois?"

Maybe I'll call it that lol. 

And maybe it'll be a thing, one day.
Who knows? I don't. 

Then all of a sudden people start getting rich off me ideas, 
AGAIN LOL. 

I think "wouldn't it be cool if we had (whatever)?"
Then there's (whatever).

I was talking to someone I went to school with.
Back in the day, while we were at the same school. 

I told him some ideas I had to script a movie
and it seems like the movie came out
like all the ideas I had. It was nuts.

It was like a paranormal movie
where the ghosts or whatever
could only get you if the lights were off.
And you couldn't see them with the lights on. 

What was it called? The movie?
It came out around 2002 or something like that.
Before 2003.

I was kinda bothered that it was like all the ideas
I had for a movie, turned into a movie
that I didn't watch it lol. 

Heard there's going to be a remake of "American Psycho."
Honestly, I haven't seen the first one.

Have you? What did you think about it?

Also heard that there's going to be another
"Home Alone" movie.

There's so many movies and films.
I watched the original dracula from over 100 years ago.
Crazy they could even film that.

And then there's real footage of landing
on the beaches of Normandy.

Real WWII footage exists.
It's pretty crazy. 

Crazy that the footage exists, but crazy
what actually took place.


The thing is, now we have bigger bombs
than the A-bomb. 

Not Canada. Pretty sure Canada doesn't have any.
Just saying, we, as people, have bigger bombs
than the A-bomb. 

Which is insane to think about.

Even those bomb tests... 
The mushroom cloud etc...

Maybe that has something to do with
adding carbon to the atmosphere.

Just one of those bombs could wipe out a majority
of a country.

An entire country would be... I dunno.
In my mind, there would be some people
who survive all of that.

Somehow.

Because there are some people
who actually prepare for disasters etc.

Just that most of us got so comfortable
that when something happens, 
they don't know what to do.

ALSO THEY WEREN'T TAUGHT.
WHAT TO DO IN PARTICULAR CASES.

LIKE IT'S CRAZY THAT IT SEEMS
THAT PEOPLE HAD TO "GET USED TO"
WASHING THEIR HANDS
DURING COVID.

AND PEOPLE WERE SO SCARED OF IT.

BECAUSE IF YOU COULD GET IT, 
YOU COULD DIE.

Anyway, what I was getting at is that
most people are not prepared for different types of scenarios. 

AND IT SEEMS THAT MOST PEOPLE
DON'T THINK ABOUT IT.

BECAUSE WHY WOULD THEY NEED TO
IF THE CIVILIZATION WE'VE BEEN USED TO
SOMEHOW FAILED AND WE WERE SOMEHOW
TO JUST COME UP WITH EXTERNAL THINGS. 
I MEANT ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF DOING THINGS.

Were we thinking that anything like
the Ice storm of '98 was going to happen?
Nope. But now we know that it can. 

We weren't prepared for that one.
ARE WE PREPARED IF IT HAPPENED AGAIN?

Or if we got another bizzard like the one in the 70s?
Snow drifts burying cars etc.

We weren't prepared for covid, but it seems that
we already had a lot of the supplies. 

The supplies weren't distributed well. 
I heard a group was asking for supplies
and the government sent them body bags.
Was a slap in the face from the government.

They do stupid things like that and wonder why
people are p*ssed off and want them out.


Anyway, my point was that all kinds of things happen
and we're not prepared for them. 

WE WEREN'T TAUGHT WHAT TO DO
IF (WHATEVER) HAPPENS.

IF "HELL" FREEZES OVER LOL. 

The valley of... Frozen grief lol. 

Aggravation Valley.

Why is it called Aggravation?
Because the people who live there
TEND TO AGGRAVATE EACH OTHER.

Here, places are named for rivers and lakes.
Canada has a neat history.


I watched a video that was an entire season
that was a voyage for a "crew" of rowers, 
portaging their boat through nothern Canada. 
And they had to keep it "period appropriate."
To when they actually had these trading routes.

It was well done. I enjoyed it.
The whole series they had was like 3 hours, 
maybe 4 hours in total, but it was filmed segments
of their trip. The trip was months.
It was impresive.
The crew really pulled through for each other.

Seems the government is trying to get the strikers
to get back to work and they haven't come to an agreement.
They just want to postpone the agreement
and want services to resume.

Someone was saying that the post offices that are
part of the drug stores are open. 

I have a "credit card" from the post office
and it is reloadable. 

I got it to protect my bank account.
If anyone got my numbers for my post office card, 
they could only get what's on the card.

It's not connected to my accounts. 
I can reload it. 

Anyway...

I had a bunch of charges on my account.
That I had to call the bank about. 

I got refunded, though. 
And they opened a new account for me.

Since then, I just want to protect
what money I have lol. 

Sometimes I go long periods of time
just at home, not spending anything.

A neighbor, I saw her at the bank, 
and she said she barely had enough to cover her rent
or something like that, 
I just pulled out $100 and gave it to her.

Probably was a reason I ran into her at the bank. 
And a reason she told me that.
A reason I had "extra" cash.

She was like "are you crazy?"
When I handed over the money.

So I said "just a friend helping a friend."

I don't spend like crazy.
One, I don't have it TO spend lol. 
Two, even if I did, what more could I need?

Other than to know that I'm "protected"
in that regard, I guess.

Really... Life could be as simple as
making "c'est quois"? 

And writing, always writing. 
Just as easy as blending consistency. 
Consistently lol. 

I'm going to attempt another batch
of something else.
Let's see how it goes.

Speaking of heat, I tried one of those
flavored tuna things. 
Spicy Thai, it was so dang spicy. 

It's that I can't come at these folks with heat.

At least these yam things don't have any sugar.
All natural ingredients.

Pretty cheap to make.

I like condensed milk. 
There. I said it. I like it.

A little bit of that, in tea... 
No need for cream or sugar.
Just... That.
Just... A little bit.

Anyway, as if I'm telling those secrets.
Unbelievable!

Now everyone will go run off and buy
all the cans of condensed milk...

And there won't be any... Left for me lol. 

The other secrets...
Certain spreads of certain vegetables, 
on certain bread with certain deli meat...

And cinamon honey...

The deli was selling honey there.
I was saving money by buying cuts from them, 
using a bread I prefer, and a spread I enjoy. 

Instead of getting a sandwich at the deli, 
which I'm sure are really good, 
I had to stretch the money, by a lot. 
I bought a whole loaf, can of spread, cuts
for the price of a deli sandwich. 

Cuts of salami. 
I asked for cuts by the gram. 
Like 200 grams of salami. 

There's another place I like, 
haven't been for a long time, 
but they have fresh feta cheese...
Goat milk is the best because it's creamier. 

When you know where to go, you'd be surprised.
A lot of good quality, just expensive.

But not as expensive as BC. 
Vancouver and Toronto have the highest
housing prices in the country.

O-town's mostly hype. 
Hard to explain. 

Toronto's our "financial hub."
That's our "Wall Street."

One of Canada's banks is
THE TORONTO DOMINION BANK.

And Montreal has a bank.
Bank of Montreal.

It's probably one of the last times
I'm going to see all the ladies
since we're splitting the group up
in January.

I said I want to stay local to here.
And they decided to make a North group. 
So it would be closer for the others
to get to their meetings.

Than have to come this way, 
from the northern section. 

So they'll have their own group. 

And there's 3 groups, I think. 

Because it used to be called

The west carleton country knitters.

And then it ballooned into whatever it is now.
Donated thousands from dozens of members.

And some knitters can't come to meetings
so they are home knitters and they just drop off
their stuff to one of the ladies
who brings it around to the places.

We have crocheters in the group, too. 

Trying to keep the groups down to around 8 per group. 
I could fit 9 in here, maybe.

I'm just kinda embarrassed that I'm not as "put together"
as these older ladies with their lifestyles. 

And I have a feeling that most of them would judge me.

Most of the units here have been "modernized"
except for the units that were already occupied
before they modernized everything. 

To make it look or seem higher scale. 
So my unit isn't as updated as the others
with the upgrades etc.

And I could do with a lot less. 
And a lot, I don't know why I'm hanging onto it.

Mostly, I have to re-organize my stash, 
and stash my stash.

Two more bins the size of the ones I have now, 
would probably cover everything. 

If only I knew someone who could help me sell stuff... 

Keep thinking about stuff I want to make.
Stuff I want to try. 

I was wondering why I was getting tired.
Already after 11pm. 
Feels like 3am though.