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Sunday, September 06, 2026

Menu Plan: September 6 - 12

So much for a restful week to recover. We have a pretty busy week ahead of us again. Please pray, as we will be all over the place. Although our cold evenings and mornings are certainly back, and it was rather cool this past week, but it is supposed to warm up a little this week. Our last gasp before the real cold arrives.

There is a lot going on in the family and a lot coming up for all of us. Not much that I can discuss publicly, but please keep every memeber of our family and extended family in prayer. God knows the needs. It has been a tough time - tougher than normal. We have all kind of hit a wall, and it's just getting harder. However, God has sent us consolations and that is beautiful to see.

Because of the weird circumstances of our week, we are keeping a much more loose fasting rule. Don't be surprised by fish or dairy on some days that normally wouldn't have them. We are doing the best we can and asking for God to strengthen us as we get closer to resolution. There were also much more leftovers this past week than expected, so some meals have been moved to this week, and there are more leftover meals planned.

Thank God for both our gleaning club and our parish family. They are still providing for us and each other. Since our garden was much smaller this year, the gleans have meant we had local, fresh produce to put up for the winter, which is a gift. Also, we've been able to bless our parish with the gleanings, and the parish has been handling meals on Sundays, or at least the main dish. This next couple months, they are really taking the lead on those. Please pray for God to bless them.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:26 AM 0 comments

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Menu Plan: August 30 - September 5

Rich and I are definitely feeling our age. After our rapid trip down to our granddaughter and back and then going straight into fair week and all of that work and those late nights, we took until nearly Thursday to start recover even a little bit. We took it more easily this weekend.

Last week, the winds of change came right on schedule. This week we are officially in fall. While I love autumn, it is usually so short here, and is a harbinger of the brutal winter, so it always makes me a little sad now. We are trying to get the most out of our garden, and spend some time preserving foods so we can still eat the fresh foods of our area during the winter and spring next year.

We had fantastic burgers last week, and I want to share what we did with them, in case you want to try something like that. Rich grilled the burgers, just plain beef with the Spice House's House Blend Turkey Seasoning on them, we toasted some ciabatta rolls, and spread them with homemade mayonnaise, dijon mustard, and a little ketchup. We layered gruyère cheese, sautéed onions, fresh arugula, avocado slices, and crisp bacon on the burgers, and ate them with cherry tomatoes from our garden and cornichons. We had planned on eating potato wedges with it, but were a little full of fried and oily foods, so we grilled fresh squash and peppers from our yard to eat with them, as well.

That was one of our successful meals last week. We tried a historic apple recipe that was Lenten for one of our breakfasts. Let's just say that there is a reason it was left in history. We will not be making it again. Besides that, I have realized that I simply cannot cook for fewer than eight people. So, we are planning a leftover day at least once a week, and if, by some miracle, we don't have enough, we will make sandwiches or some other quick and easy meal. I've set that for Thursdays, as it is a meat day on which I usually have something happening in the evening, which leaves me with more time that night.

We are so excited to have two of our granddaughters this coming weekend. We will fill them with good things and let them enjoy the outdoors as we can. They will come to church with us, and we can love on them for a couple nights. It is good. As for this weekend, our parish family is yet again coming along side us and giving me the rest I need from our rather busy few weeks by providing the meal Sunday. We are so grateful for them. In the meantime, we are still trying to eat down our freezer so we can fit that mutton, a steer, and our birds in there for winter and next year. I'm even planning a turkey dinner and some roast lamb over the next month or two, so we can make even more room. Rich wants to have a poultry day each week, to eat some of our birds in the freezer which were butchered last year, to make room for the new harvest. Shelftember will begin this week, and aside from milk and produce, I am trying to eat only what we already have here, to make room for preserved foods and the meat in our freezer.

Thank you for your prayers and support over these past few months. We are getting close to resolution and are praying for the best outcome.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 3:12 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 23, 2026

Menu Plan: End of Summer

What a week! Fair is over, and we can feel the winds of change, right on schedule, bringing winter to us. That is sad every time. I wish we had a real autumn here. Every year it has been harder and harder to get volunteers for our community club's booth, and this year was the worst, by far. It was basically us and one other family doing most of the work, with several other people who came to help, but times when we needed four or five people there, and only had two. It was pretty brutal. We aren't quite finished, as there is still clean up, but we are looking forward to a non-fair week.

We have two family birthdays this week, though only one in the house. We still haven't decided on the dessert, so when we have that set, I will update the menu.

Our little garden is still blessing us. Considering that we thought we wouldn't have a garden this year, with all the turmoil, I am so grateful for how well it is treating us. A lot of our meals are featuring produce from our garden. We do have a bunch of repeat meals this week, simply because of how fair schedules went.

We are heading into September, and we are still trying to eat down our freezers. I will do another Shelftember challenge. Our hope is that we can make room in the freezers for a mutton and a steer. We also want to butcher quite a few of our ducks, turkeys, and geese, which will set us up for the year with fresh, healthful meat for our family and church family.

Yet again, I have cause to thank God for our parish family. They have been so supportive and kind, and are helping with the meal this week. Some of the food we are bringing was from another church meal and was in our freezers, so we can just heat it and serve it tonight. This also clears room in our freezer, so I am grateful for that, too.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:58 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Menu Plan: August 16 - 22

Last week, we were able to take a quick trip down and back to visit Dominic and Shawn for Winnie's first birthday. It was a whirlwind, but delightful. She is taking her first steps and her other grandmother gave her a new set of wheels, pink with light up wheels in the rear. We kind of had to do a stealth visit, because there wasn't time to see anyone else while we were there. Good thing we have a peaceful, quiet week this week! (Not at all).

One of the things we did while we were down there, was to pick blackberries and plums from our dear friends' yard. I am trying not to just eat all the blackberries myself, but perhaps I will make a little crisp or something for us tomorrow. I'm hoping we will get a chance for a longer trip down, both to see the kids again, but also to see other friends and family.

Speaking of tomorrow, fair week officially begins tomorrow. We are all taking our turns on shifts at the fair booth, so it's a bit of a revolving door here all week. A few people t home, a few people at fair, then trading places. Because of our trip, we missed the last window to put in most fair entries. However, we will be entering some baked goods and plants and herbs, though.

Jerome's birthday is this week, but with fair, I'm not sure how that will go. Then, next week, we have two birthdays, between Mariam and Shawn. That is now four birthdays in August! With our daughters in law and granddaughters, we now have one birthday in January, two in March, one in May, two in June, two in July, four in August, two in October, and one in December. Birthday season now runs the whole year.

Thank God for our parish family. I knew we would be exhausted from our road trip, and so they took care of the meal at church for us. It was so delicious, and all we did was bring some corn to boil and some butter. This is another exhausting week for us, and I have a freezer meal ready for church next week, but we are still going to be pretty bone weary when that comes. The smoke has lifted a little, so we can breathe a little more easily, but we are a little more stuffed up back home than we were while visiting the kids.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:49 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 09, 2026

Menu Plan: Feast of the Dormition

In birth, you preserved your virginity; in death, you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos. As mother of life, you departed to the source of life, delivering our souls from death by your intercessions.

Shudder, O ye heavens! and, O earth, give ear unto these words:
God descended once before for our sake; He descends again today for His Mother.

The feast isn't until Saturday. However, the Dormition (or Assumption, in the West - this is the same feast, but the title emphasizes a different aspect) is the fourth highest feast in the Church year, following the Paschal feast, Pentecost, and the feast of the Nativity. Church teaching is that all the apostles but Thomas were gathered mystically around the Blessed Mother as she died, and were there for her burial. Thomas, arriving three days later, was taken to her tomb, only to find that it was empty. This Church teaching of the assumption of her body into heaven is not just a pious tradition, but holds some deep spiritual and physical truths for us. It is a sign and reminder to us that not only Christ resurrected bodily, but that we all will rise. Also, we know now, as they didn't then, that all women bear the DNA of each and every child borne to them in their bodies forever. So, by raising His mother, our Lord made sure that His resurrection was complete on this earth. If this had not happened, then He would not be completely risen. What a wonder and miracle! Science, archaelogy, history, always vindicate the Church and her teachings.

Inevitably, when people deny honor to the Theotokos, it is really a dishonor to the Lord. Even denying her the title Theotokos ends up declaring that Christ was either not God in her womb, or that He is not God incarnate. It is often not intentional, but I think a good question to ask oneself when putting her "in her place" is what does this mean about Christ and His divinity? If it ends up dishonoring Him, calling His divinity into question, or lessening Him, it isn't a good thing. Likewise, so many people say that there is too much honor given her, without actually considering whether or not they honor her enough or even at all. What is just the right amount of honor? Surely it isn't debasing the woman who bore and raised our Lord? Jesus was born a Jew and fulfilled the law. He loved and honored His mother, and as we could not have had Him without her, why would we want that, instead of following His example?

The Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke hails her and says that God calls her blessed. Her cousin Elizabeth's unborn son, Saint John the Forerunner, leaps at the sound of Mary's voice, and by this does Elizabeth know and proclaim that Mary is the Mother of her Lord. Mary replies by saying that ALL generations will call her blessed. It is in the Scriptures that we are to bless her, that God Himself magnifies her, so why should we not do the same? How can we do less?

Last week, Rich and I were able to go to East Wenatchee's Havana Nights for dancing. The smoke had cleared enough that it was safe to be outdoors. We had been in Wenatchee earlier in the week when you couldn't even see the hills across the river, or the river itself. This week holds a wonderful day for us, as well, with Winnie's birthday. We are so excited for her first birthday! We also have an opportunity to have a visit with some of our kids' godparents, and are looking forward to that, as well. As next week is going to be a busy week with fair, I am really hoping we get a chance to rest up in preparation for it this week.

Speaking of needing rest, please continue to pray for our family. Our life is really catching up with us, and we are just bone weary, exhausted all the time. We are forgetting important things and missing things that need to be done. It's wearing on us more and more. Please pray for our whole area. There are at least 40 fires burning all around us. The smoke is pretty bad, though not the worst we've ever seen here. Pray for the families and business who have been displaced, and for the firefighters.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:51 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 02, 2026

Menu Plan: August 2 - 8

Technically, the Dormition fast has already begun. During the Dormition fast, I join with others to dedicate our prayers toward the end of abortion - not only in law, but also in practice - that nobody would ever feel the need to resort to this. We are all under so much pressure, and all coping as best as we can, and right now, I think our fast is surving it and deepening our prayers. So, please forgive me for the poor example in our menus.

Our gleaning club and garden are keeping us in beautiful, fresh produce, and we are enjoying that. We haven't had the time for a lot of preserving, but we have watermelon, peaches, apples, plums and pluots, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, salad greens, herbs, onions, fresh peas, arugula, all sorts of lovely things to eat. The winds have been coming, and with it some cold, which makes us concerned for how early winter will come, and what kind of winter we'll have, but also because of its impact on fires and our fire season. Please pray for our area, as there are so many fires, with homes lost, and lots of destruction and smoke. It is hard for the farmers and their animals as well as families.

This week holds the feast of the Transfiguration, which is also the anniversary of the loss of our sweet grandson. As hard as that memory is, I do love that it is always going to be tied with our Lord's revelation and display of how this world and the next is not strictly separated. I love the Transfiguration! We have the Trinity demonstrated in the voice of the Father and the uncreated light of the Spirit which overshadows the mountain, we have the communion of saints demonstrated and modeled (Jesus calls on not only Elijah, who never died, but Moses, in the presence of two of the Apostles - who know exactly who they are - and shows them that they can be called on in this world) to us, and we have a Theophany, a demonstration of the divinity of Christ. Saint Peter's statement about building tablernacles is not only an impetuous statement of someone not knowing what to say. It shows that Saint Peter connects what he witnesses with the Feast of Tabernacles, which is the feast of the coming Kingdom. He sees this as a sign of the Kingdom appearing on earth. On this feast, the Jewish people build booths to serve as symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom. Moses represents the law and all who have died, and Elijah, the prophets and all who are alive in Christ, as Elijah never experienced death. Both of these men are immediately recognizeable by Saints Peter, James and John. They know them, because the saints are available to us on earth. They can hear Jesus talking to them, and Jesus gives them an example of communicating with the saints. This is one of the major feasts of the Church year, and it is a poverty to neglect or ignore it. Glory to God in His saints!

We've had a lot of losses in our circle lately. Just in the past ten days we have had two memorials for men who left their wives as widows. One, who was 82, and one who was 33, leaving a young wife (one of our older children's friends) and a year old son. Lord have mercy on them. Please pray for these men and for their families. They do not have a lot of people who will pray for their dead.

Our sweet neighbors flagged us down the evening after their father's memorial, when we were coming home from our other errands, to bring us leftovers from the memorial and that is providing the meal for our church tonight. The folks from church will bring accompaniments to go with the smoked turkey, baked potatoes, and so on, and the meal I had planned for today will be put out on another Sunday this month, which gives me more relief. I had absolutely no cooking to do today, and got to truly rest, after a lovely brunch that Rich made for us. Our parish family is still taking their desire to lift as many burdens as they can from us quite seriously. We have people providing meals, cooking on Sundays for church, driving me to events I need to attend in other towns when I'm not up for the longer drives, offering us places to stay when we need a respite, giving our kids a fun place to go so they don't have to sit in the sorrow we are enduring. We cannot thank them enough. Please pray for us, but also for them, that they would be blessed and relieved as they have done for us.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:10 PM 1 comments

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Menu Plan: July 26 - August 1

Our quiet weekend away for my birthday turned into something a little bigger. We were heading over to dance on Alki Beach, at an organized salsa and bachata on the beach event, anyway. Besides Nordstrom holding their annual sale to coincide with my birthday each year (thank you!), Bite of Seattle was going on, so we were able to go eat lots of cool foods, watch cooking demonstrations and listen to music while we were over there, too. We were not at Bite when the shooting happened, and we are praying for the victims and all the people who were there and terrified. Rich rented a cute little beach bungalow, and we got to ease into our mornings, and walk along the beach or to restaurants, and since our church has liturgy in the evening, we could even take Sunday morning much more quietly. Some dear friends here in town took the kids who are still at home so they could be with friends instead of alone, and that made it a fun weekend for them, too.

We have a couple dinners out this week, one without the kids, and the other including them. They get to come to the survivor dinner after airshow, and be appreciated for all their hard work, too.

We are approaching the Dormition Fast, and with having the granddaughters over more and all the stress in our lives, I think we are going to be more lax this year, as we were with the Apostles' Fast. We don't know if this is a season in which we need to be easier on ourselves, or if we would benefit from fasting more. The burden of what we are carrying right now feels like a big fast, all the time.

We are starting to reap the benefits of the growing season here, and had delightful salads from our own lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, and garlic, we've been cooking up arugula from our garden, have loads of peaches through our gleaning club that are just perfection, plus beets galore for salads and braises and gratins and pickles that Rich was able to glean from a local farmer with them. Our farmers' market has blessed us with lovely tiny zucchini, pie cherries (which we pitted and froze for later, not having time to cook them up right now), plums, tomatoes, eggplant, tomatillos, and raspberries. It is the best time of year here.

Our 250th Anniversary of our country Melting Pot-Luck is this weekend, and I am looking forward to that. It is fantastic to taste the foods of other people's heritage and get to know the people in our area more. Yet again, our parish family is taking care of the meal for tonight. We told them of our birthday plans, and they all stepped up to help. We could not be more grateful for them.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 1:50 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Craft On: Step by Step

I am basically finished with the base on the coffee cozy, but now I am a little worried I won't have enough yarn to finish it. I might have a UFO that I wanted to frog anyway in this yarn, though. If I can find that, I will be fine.

There should be a lot of knitting time for my birthday, because we are going to get quite a bit of driving when we go dancing. I'm super excited for the dance and the time with Rich in the car while I knit and we talk (and he drives).

Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge is sitting on my nightstand, but I am hoping to get inside it tonight. I'm nearly finished with Last Wool and Testament, which is another happy, little, knitting murder and I'm waiting for the library to bring me Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle. I started reading the series before Rich, and now he is ahead of me in this book because he listens to it and got the audio version quicker than I did the print version.


Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 8:50 PM 0 comments

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Menu Plan: July 19 - 25

They say it's your birthday! It's my birthday too, yeah!

My 50th birthday is this week. Rich wanted to do something big for it, but we are both so exhausted, and it just sounded like a lot of work, no matter how fun it might end up being for me. So, instead, he took the day off for my birthday, and we are going to go to a salsa dance on the beach and spend some time window shopping at cute, kitchsy places, and having a fun, easy going time. I'm not huge on big gifts or big parties for my birthday, I really just want people who know me well to remember and wish me a happy birthday.

This week begins with a neighborhood picnic where we will grill all sorts of meats and delicious things and share with our neighborhood. Besides my birthday, though, we have a fairly low key schedule, which is much needed. There is so much to catch up on here, with all the extra things going on in our lives. Please keep us in your prayers, still. It's been a little discouraging lately.

A set of friends from church is coming with pizzas for us this week, as they said they could see we needed blessings and rest. God bless them. We are grateful for all the support we've had. We are all so exhausted from all these challenges, and it feels like we are always tired.

Again, I have reason to bless my parish family this week. One family is taking care of the bulk of dinner for church, and the rest of the parish are bringing things to go with that meal.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:50 AM 2 comments

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Craft On: Coffee, Anyone?

The base of the Margaret Tie-Top Tea Cosy is nearly finished, and I think once I get past the basic part of this, the rest of the cozy will go relatively quickly. I hope to have it finished by the end of next week. I want to have this ready for Rich to use with his coffee press at work, since he has to leave it so often. It would have been lovely to have it completed today, which is the 32nd anniversary of our first meeting, but alas, it will be my project with me when we get dinner.

Unfortunately, I had to back track a little on Keese, but it should be correct and on its way in a day or so.

I've been able to read a little more lately, and I think I can finish Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge within the week or by next week, at least. I've read two books since last week. First, I finished Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, which was exactly what I needed, a light, fun, and silly story.

I also read The Jinn Daughter which is a fairy tale told in the style of the traditional hakawati stories. First, the negative, I wish the author had not chosen to use scatalogical language in the story at all. It was one word, repeated only four or five times in the entire book, but it was so out of place with the rest of the story that it drew you as the reader out from being a participant to being an outsider. She could have used the Arabic word, which would have gotten the point across without the vulgarity, as she did with many other words (not vulgar or crass, just words like nahr instead of river and mote instead of death, etc.). It's not even the word itself that bothers me, but its entire lack of necessity. It had no place in the story - it was just sprinkled in for some reason. Now, the wonderful, the author examines the question: What story would your life tell? This is not the same as what is your life story, and she shows this different question throughout the book and causes the reader to ask the question of herself, as well. I love the use of Arabic storytelling. I love her inclusion of Arabic words instead of trying to find a close approximation in English. I love that she eventually includes kan, كان ياما كان (ya ma kan), the once upon a time of all Arab fairy tales; It was, or it wasn't. Ultimately, this is a fairy tale about motherhood. Like all fairy tales, the monsters aren't real, but the fears are. Rania Hanna is a neuroscientist, and her story is intelligently written. I do not know if she plans to write more fiction, but I hope she does.


Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:21 AM 0 comments

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Menu Plan: July 12 - 18

We get to do some fun things this week, which makes up for a lot of hard weeks over the past couple months. It is also the 32nd anniversary of Rich and my first meeting on Wednesday. We're going to get some seafood and drinks, and celebrate. The place we are planning to go often has live music, though I doubt they will in the middle of the week.

You will see that leftover cake features on our menu quite a bit this week. Who knew that with four kids out of the house we would have leftover cake? Even bringing it to church Sunday, and sharing with others, we are still eating the remainder of three cakes. Three. Cakes. I'm going to have to start sending baked goods to Rich's work now.

The problem is that I want to bake more things this week. Our freezers are full, and we are not eating as much as we used to eat. So, I need a new plan. I should start serving bread with each meal, like we did when I was a kid. There wasn't a meal without bread and butter. Then, we have the issue of the cost of butter. On the plus side, our freezers are also full of butter, so we bought it at a lower price and it will free up freezer space. Hmmm. . .

Thanks be to God for our parish family. They have been so wonderful about either supplying or supplementing the meals at church, to lift the burden on us while we are going through such a hard time. I could not be more grateful for them.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 7:35 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 08, 2026

Craft On: Stitch Along Inspired Designs

This design was sparked by some remarks in the SAL last year and inspired by designs I saw while in Saudi Arabia, and I'm hoping to have it ready to release before the SAL is over this year.

I'm also making Rich a little coffee press cozy for his coffee at work. The Margaret Tie-Top Tea Cosy is one of the delightful designs from my fellows designers. I love the construction she uses, and if you know me, you know I am a sucker for interesting construction.

Not much progress in Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, but I am about two thirds of the way through Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha. I did, indeed, finish The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield last week. The author managed to keep most of her modernisms out, which is an improvement, but explained the Bingleys and Netherfield, as though the people reading this book weren't doing so because they already love Jane Austen stories, and then created three new sisters for Mr. Bingley. That is insupportable. The stories are still delightful, so I shake my head and roll my eyes a little at the author's ideas of what needs to be changed/added to these people and places and move along.


Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 7:42 PM 0 comments

Sunday, July 05, 2026

Menu Plan: July 5 - 11

It is another family birthday this week. We have to postpone the party so we are having a smaller family dinner this week.

A lot of this past week was quite upside down, as we had the granddaughters while their cousin was born and coming home. It's been quite a while since we had two little people living here, and we are tired. It was delightful to have them here, but we are well aware why it is that young people have babies.

Because of that shift in our week, we moved some meals to this week, and some to later times this summer. Sadly, we won't have the girls here most of this week, but we will go back to our frequent visits, rather than having them live here with us. The recipe round up will be finished this week.

There have been a few disappointments this week, with the other issues going on, and that has been a little discouraging. We continue in prayer, and try to remember to give our burdens to God whose yoke is easy and burden is light.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 7:09 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 01, 2026

Craft On: It's the Most Fun Time of the Year!

The Around the World Stitch Along is here! I am looking over projects to make over the next six weeks. That yarn up there is a pile of possibilities. I'm narrowing down my choices right now.

Do you want to make a cute little greeting card using lace weight yarn? Please e-mail me, and I will send you the information to beta knit this quick design.

Since I'm attacking Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge at the rapid rate of half or one page every few nights, I may finish by the end of the year. However, I finished Salt Houses and found it beautifully written. There is more profanity and vulgarity in the language of the characters than I would like, but it is understandable in most cases. The only sexuality in it is pertinent to the story, and not done pornographically. I started Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, but The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield arrived for me from the library, so I think I'm hopping to that.

As I said, the Around the World Stitch Along on Ravelry has begun! I have a sale bundle of patterns on both Ravelry and PayHip that are 25% off with the coupon code SAL2026 through the end of the day, PDT, July 7, 2026. Our event goes through August 14, 2026, though, and we have 34 designers, from 16 countries and five continents, thousands of amazing patterns, and loads of crafting fun! This is the first year we have approached equal amounts of knit and crochet patterns, which thrills us.


Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 1:29 PM 0 comments

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Menu Plan: June 28 - July 4

First-enthroned of the apostles, teachers of the universe: Entreat the Master of all to grant peace to the world, and to our souls great mercy!

Tomorrow is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. They are celebrated together, to show their unity, the unity of the Apostles and the Church. They gave us the Church. Glory to God! With this feast, we now return to ordinary time until the Dormition Fast.

We didn't really keep the Apostles' Fast this year. Our life has been too challenging, and we just feel a bit weaker. I don't know if we will even be able to keep the Dormition Fast. We already do it a little more lightly, and if we have little with us, I might do that on a lighter scale.

It is the last few days of June already. This month, this year, has been racing. We are approaching the 250th anniversary of our Independence as a country. I was born in the Bicentennial. I was a few weeks late for the actual day. The number one song the week I was born was American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I am a patriotic person; I love our country; I love celebrating our country and its ideals. Those are the things I am presenting to lay the tracks for what I am about to say. I'm having a very hard time being excited about this big celebration. It's one thing to acknowledge that between the genocide of Native Americans and the land built on the backs of slaves, our years of second class citizenship for those former slaves and for other people we needed to come to our country to build railroads and do the work we wouldn't, while we promised a better life, that our country was an ideal rarely met. It is another to see people I know, not just random people out there, who are now making all the same justifications and arguments that were made to support all of those awful things in those events. With how our administration is treating its own people, with how we treated people coming here for the World Cup who were of the "wrong" color or nationality or religion, with how we have been waging war, I just can't look to the ideal as well as I did before. The people I know are actively supporting the opposite of that ideal, and it hurts a bit. It's easy to say it's just talking heads or politicians until the people you called your friends are saying and supporting it. Normally, I don't share much politically here, so I may regret saying this, but there it is.

Last year, rather than just complain, or mope, I planned a Melting Pot-Luck to celebrate our Independence Day, and I wanted to do that again this year. However, with all that has been going on in our family, with all the extra responsibilities, plus the deep sorrow I am having regarding our socio-political environment, I just don't feel up to it. I may put feelers out to do it later this month. Maybe the weekend of my birthday, so we can have a late 250th celebration of what our country should be. I try to focus on good things I can do, rather than just complaining, and I try to look for things for which to be grateful, rather than to regret. I'm trying to keep doing that.

In other news, the baby still isn't here. Please pray for that new baby and their family, also for us, as we will be caring for their children while they are doing the important work of bringing a new life into our world. Our schedule last week was brutal, so there are repeats of our meals for this week.

Tonight at church, there is another thing for which I can be grateful. A family from the mission Orthodox church here moved last fall, and gave us a lot of what was in their freezers. Their lovely, homemade pasta sauce is being used in dinner tonight to feed our parish after Evening Prayer. Things are tight for so many people in our country, and getting tighter, and we have never had to worry about how to feed our own family, or how to feed other people, and for that I am truly grateful. God has always provided for us, between Rich's work, wonderful connections with grocers and farmers, and the generosity of people who look out for our parish. The people at the parish here have also given so generously of their time, talent, and treasure to help our parish and our family in this challenging time.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:55 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Craft On: No Cap, Well One Cap

I started this sweater at the end of March. I was hoping it would be completed at the end of May, or at least by the end of June. There is most of a sleeve. Life is still a bit hard right now. Even knitting is hard right now. Not because it is actually difficult, but because it is difficult to focus, to sit still and do anything. However, I love this sleeve, and I will love the sweater. Whenever I finish it.

In the meantime, I have basically given up on challenging reading, for much the same reason. So, instead, I read another light, happy, little murder, A Dark and Stormy Knit. I didn't love that I picked the killer in the first third of the book. My next book will either be the next in this series or the next Mrs. Pollifax.

We are already chatting in the Around the World Stitch Along group on Ravelry and the participating designer list will be published next week! I hope you can join us.


Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:29 PM 2 comments

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Menu Plan: June 21 - 27

This week was our first week without any airshow or other outside events. However, we were on baby watch for the last part of last week and still are this week, for our granddaughters' new cousin. We are very close, and they could use your prayers.

Over the past couple weeks, I have become a futbol fan. I've been watching the world cup, and keeping track of teams and wins. It's been easier for me to figure out the rules and how play is going while I watch, than American football. I still don't really know much about it, but I'm learning. We are basically rooting for our favorite countries and countries of our ethnic background, though. Since Rich has been to both Panama and Croatia and loved both, I asked which team he was rooting for in their match, and he said Croatia all the way.

Speaking of Croatia, it is their Independence Day this week, and we are celebrating by making food from their country. I really wish we could go there again, and one day we will.

Even without the airshow events, it is still paying us back for our work. The dinner for church was largely provided by leftovers from airshow dinners, which were in our freezer, and an Austrian/German/Croatian cake for Father's Day that I made for Rich. That cake matched much of his ethnic background, as well as the country we have adopted as our new homeland, one day.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:12 PM 0 comments

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Craft On: A Day Late and Not Much News

I'm past the decorative part of the sleeve on my vintage inspired top. There are only about three inches before shaping the sleeve cap. It's taken far too long to do far too little, but progress is progress. This week was at least as busy as last week, because our granddaughters' aunt and uncle are expecting a baby, and we are helping them. We're still trucking along in our challenges and doing the next right thing. We are in prayer for a lot of people right now and can use a lot of prayer.

Beacuse life got busier again these past couple weeks, I've read about a page in the Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, and that is it. That is not exactly true, but it's been a page here and there in everything.

I am working behind the scenes on the Around the World Stitch Along, and we kick things off in less than two weeks! I hope you are able to join in the fun with us.


Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:45 PM 0 comments

Sunday, June 14, 2026

Menu Plan: June 14 - 20

I don't know why I plan any meals during airshow week. We always end up with leftovers from volunteer meals or events in the evening or other things like that and don't really eat at home. I shouldn't even buy groceries for that week. Even this week is laden with leftovers from last week that can either last in our fridge or are in our freezer for later this week.

Aside from the exhaustion and busy-ness of airshow this week, we also had some other important events. Unfortunately, they didn't go as we would have wished, and so that was disappointing and exhausting in its own right. Rich's birthday is this week, and we were hoping for good news for his birthday. Please keep praying for our family.

Our parish family has been coming through for us in amazing ways. Tonight's dinner is provided by them, we are only bringing some melons I picked up on my unnecessary grocery trip last week.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:59 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Craft On: Seeking Knit and Crochet Designers

Life has gotten a lot harder for us recently. There is progress being made, but it is gut wrenching and slow and we're all feeling it now. So, I've blocked Warda, tried to start a new one and ran out of yarn. I still haven't woven in the ends on Nisseet. Though I really wanted to have Warda ready for publication a month ago, I think it needs to wait until my mind is in a place that I can handle it. I wanted to have it ready for this year's Around the World Stitch Along, and it will be, but not in time for the first week of it.

Speaking of which, there is still a little time to sign up for the Stitch Along as a participating designer. There is one day left for sign ups, so go on Ravelry to check out the main group and find the planning group or contact an admin. You can also check out our Instagram account for more information. We are especially looking for crochet designers. The crafters will have their chance in a couple weeks, but I will say that we are starting the conversation run up to cast on day.

We've had a lot of sleepless nights. However, that means I got to read more in Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge than I have been. I also finished The Girls of Good Fortune. I really enjoyed the book. Having grown up in Oregon, and knowing the places she referred to in the book made it even better. There were three things I wish she hadn't done, however. If you have paid attention to my criticisms of writers here, you will know that I abhor modernisms in historical books. The author used the words verbiage and impactful (and don't get me started on impactful as a word, anyway). In the 1880s. She also used the word racist, which nobody used then. Even when people were describing what we call racism, they called it racialism and being a racialist. Of course, there had to be modern social politics in there, as well. It wasn't even a natural part of the story, just there to have it. It's like there is someone at modern publishing houses is counting how much of modern morality is in the books before they can be published. However, it is a well written story. She researched the events well, and wove them together with the fictional characters beautifully. I will read more of her books.


I was too late to link to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:29 AM 0 comments

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