Dian Green

The way I have been served congee was as a very plain base. It was white rice based but done pretty much with straight water so it was the rice version of oatmeal.
The reason is so everyone can customize as they want, like an oatmeal bar, but savoury.

When I make it for myself, I know what I want so those things are built in. First thing is the broth. I do it with tons of garlic, ginger, dried mushrooms, a few spices and some lemongrass. Chicken pieces are poached in it until cooked then the meat is stripped off and the bones, skin and bits are put back in.
After a few hours on the stove, it's strained and all but the mushrooms is thrown out. ( I put the mushrooms in dry and they tend be good for chopping by the time it's done)
Then the rice is cooked in the broth until it's broken down but not completely smooth. I do it a bit thicker than most restaurants. The poached chicken, the mushrooms, some fresh greens and maybe some dried fried onions are about all that are added to it aside from a drizzle of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.
Very warm, comfortable and soothing and it freezes well.

I'm mostly a modder of existing pieces. I have both copied existing pieces to make patterns as well as basically making up my own.
I have a good stash of older patterns but I usually have to alter them pretty heavily to get them to fit right so they are used more like guidelines.
For me, a PDF pattern would just have enough front loaded hassle that I cant see how it would be worth it.
And that's not even getting into how often the sizes I need are often just blown up versions of smaller sizes so they are non functional as patterns.

I'm with Jill. I've only been doing edible pod for years. It can be a bit tricky finding ones where both the peas and the pods are tasty when they fill out but it's worth it.
I have considered growing out some of the drying peas we use for microgreens.

I do love the idea of making stock from the shells!

I am also caregiver for a family member who is mostly bedbound. As a result, we often need to move or shift them in the bed.
The change to reduced mobility came on suddenly and we had to do that shifting immediately,  with not much in the way of prior supplies.
Luckily,  we had a good stash of fabrics and supplies so I was able to quickly make a transfer pad with stuff we had on hand.
I later found out you can buy them but we like ours better and they work really well for us. I just made a new one and took a few pictures so I could share the process in case anyone else needs them.

I used 2 things, a towel and some "slidey" fabric. You want a towel that is solid but not too plush. It should be big enough to support the main body of the patient and still have enough fabric so you can grab the corners. (Looks don't much matter here so vintage or thrifted work great)
For the other fabric, it needs to be smooth. I used some lining that we have lots of. Silk, satin,  even a windbreaker shell will work.
Then cut or rip the fabric to just be a bit smaller than the towel and sew them together.  (I just ripped to size and didn't even fold over and they gave all held up great) I have done additional lines of sewing down the center of the panels and often several along the length. This makes it stronger and prevents too much bunching.  
To use it, the fabric side goes down on a mattress and the patient "sticks" to the towel side. This let's you slide and shift them around easily.
Using a towel means it is soft and padded as well as  easy to wash and absorbent in case of sweat or accidents. You can also top it with a replaceable pad if they need them.
Not pretty but it does the job and has saved our backs and wallets.

It's done! Im not so good on redoing the tacks but I am happy with it otherwise.
The cat is already making threats towards the repairs but we'll see how they hold up.
Making the big patches in advance was totally the way to go and I'm glad to get this chair back in some sort of respectable state, at least for a few more years.

The back panel is on!
The buttons were done first and it was very hard. I'm really glad I have a stash of vintage repair needles. The small curved one was needed in several spots.
(I wish I had some sharper, surgery ones but I made do)

The end is in sight and its looking how I had hoped.

Haskap should do well for you. You do have to net them however, if you want fruit. They are early enough that the birds will clean you out.
Black raspberry is also good. I had ones in a very similar place and got good production.

The arm patches are all assembled.  I used the ribbons to cover the edges most likely to fray. It was also nice to use up some of my grandmother's supply stash.

Now I get to start the actual attachment.

I got the arm layouts done and have done the base sew downs for them as well.
It is so much easier to get it all to stay flat when they are smaller.
I made sure to put the actual upholstery fabrics over the spots where it had worn through so these should hold up better.
Now to do the detail sewing and then I have to start actually sewing them to the chair.

I at least have the back piece for the chair repair together.
Not exactly as the layout but that is how it goes once you get sewing.