A Hodge Podge of tasks

 Today has been a rush of a variety of tasks.

I made a roast.

This is a shoulder roast.  I coated it in a variety of spices and cooked it until it smelled done.

I added boiling water to the pan drippings and then added other goodies ( fresh thyme, dried mushroom and good old Manishewitz wine that is a must for charoset and kind of useless as drinking wine). I carefully scraped up all of the dried up good stuff and turned the mixture into a gravy that will be served with the meat.

We are a bit container shy during Passover and there was a bit too much gravy to fit in the one container we had left , so I boiled red potatoes in water to which I added that last bit of gravy, the dried mushrooms and the thyme stems. 

Covid had meant that not very many people visited so I had allowed bits of our couch to get shabby. I had been meaning to replace the cover on the center cushion on our couch for the last long time. I pulled down a few of my upholstery fabrics and made a new cushion cover.

Yes, the cover is two sided

A friend had been napping on the couch please excuse the tangle of blankets. I love how all of the various prints and stripes all play so nicely together.  I am grateful that I had seen a beautiful ABC Carpet and Home couch upholstered in several different fabrics at our friend Bonnie's country house.  I love that I can replace the upholstery as it gets sad looking. Occasional time commitments of an hour or so keeps my couches from looking too shabby.

I also ironed a stack of linens but took photos only of this new to me tablecloth.

This is a great example of a late 19th -early 20th century home made linen tablecloth. The red embroidery was particularly beloved in Central Europe. 

 The machine sewn hems are a neither wide and generous nor are they tiny and fine. They are an in between not very elegant width.  A length of crochet lace was added to give the cloth a bit more elegance. 

These sorts of edgings were crochet by the mile and then added to whatever needed a pretty trim.

The stitching is large and fairly tidy.

This cloth will probably make an appearance during Passover.

Shabbat Shalom!