Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine has a day of small bits...

So far the best was removing the "decorative" motif from the front of the mailbox. Careful observation of how it was attached showed that while the rivets in the front were substantial and recessed into the cast metal motif, inside the mailbox were two much smaller raised eyelets. With an oval cutting burr on the flex shaft it was possible to carefully reach inside the mailbox and grind away enough to pull the excrescent casting off the front of the sheet metal, leaving it with only two small visible holes. Milliput might seal those up before painting the mailbox "hammered dark bronze" with Rustoleum

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~ recombinant ~

It is very satisfying to deconstruct my jewelry to put back together differently in a form that is more likely to be worn. The wire oak leaf outlines were made years ago, and originally had a vaguely acorn-ish group of beads hanging in the center. And the cast silver acorns that now supplant them were (by themselves) so dainty that they rarely were a first choice... 

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Almost done with priming, painting and preparing the new small kitchen shelves. I found the jar of leftover kitchen wall paint, saved for future repairs, and there is enough to paint these shelves to match the walls. They aren't intended as a focal point, so was happy to have found the exact paint, and I really wish that Metro Paint was still a going concern, since I'd forgotten how excellent the paint is/was. Slightly thicker than melted ice cream, and it covers in one coat. 

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In overall food news, have started looking around for cilantro seeds or starts. It isn't the best time of year to try and grow it, according to what I've been reading, but is worth an attempt. Will also try and get to the farmers market for some. Locally grown is less likely to have parasites. (added: just got a callback from the most local plant and garden store to Acorn Cottage and they have plenty of cilantro starts and also seeds, so I foresee a bike ride tomorrow...)

The other peculiar thing re food is that for the last several weeks have been looking for organic canned corn with no success. All the local grocery stores have none of the organic on the shelves. I like keeping a few cans with the "earthquake" pantry goods, since a can of corn + a can of beans (+ maybe a can of Costco chicken) + some seasoning = a dinner that only needs a can opener. Is it seasonal, or crop failure, or supply chain weirdness? Only time will tell...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	painted pony spots	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	mailbox de-uglified	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	small shelves painted	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	two beaded dragons	x	greenwaste bin
8	x	x	unripe grapes
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Metro paint is so dense and works so well
- Tool Girl had useful attachments for the flex shaft
- There is a decent independent garden/pet/livestock store nearby

Time of Isolation - Day 2208

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine remains stuck in a rabbit hole...

... somewhat obsessively perusing online options for kitchen faucets or mailboxes, without much success. Apparently the way I think about material objects, and what I want/require, is peculiar. So much so that most online descriptions do not even mention those aspects. Of course, I would be equally frustrated if I was trying to purchase my wardrobe instead of making my own; while I have a rather wide ranging skill set, I do not have my own foundry, or sheet metal shop, so am at the mercy of what is commercially available, the quality of which has degraded greatly over the last several decades. Karen's suggestion was to modify my current mailbox to be less ugly, since (a.) it has actual hinges rather than flimsy tabs and pins and (b.) it is already here... So now I am wondering if time spent grinding off the rivets to allow removing the stupid fancy brass curliques on the front, and time spent sanding the patchy tarnished lid, and maybe then repainting the whole thing so it is all one color might make it less of a daily visual ouch. This might be a job for Rustoleum.

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~ wonderfully small ~

took a break yesterday to go see local artist Maggie Rudy's delightful "Mouseland" dioramas at  Green Bean Books. So kawaii and even more precious in person than in online photos.

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Finished cooking and eating dinner by 7pm yesterday (always a goal but not always achieved) Am all caught up on Mt Washmore, and Mt Dishmore, and prepared two different batches of future meals: spinach rice bake, and shrimp stir fry. Yesterday I steamed spinach, and cooked rice so it could sit in the fridge overnight to convert the starch before further combining/eating. As a change, instead of just cheddar cheese, a mixture of half cheddar and half feta worked well; the feta "crumbles" I tried from the store were a bit too strong and dry as salad topping, but added additional savor to the bake. I nibbled a very small portion as a starter while finishing up the shrimp and bok choi stir fry. I sat down to eat my dinner portion of the stir fry and finished off the meal with the one remaining mango. Yum!

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Earlier today checked on the mock orange, which continues to develop new green foliage, and thankfully it hadn't grown down through the pot drainage, so I was able to move it closer to the front door for careful watching and watering.  It needs a good permanent spot (it prefers full sun, so somewhere in the front yard?) Observing where and when the sunny spots are will help, and hopefully later in the year when the earth isn't rock hard a planting hole can be dug. A "floor plan" of the yard would be a design help, since my ideas from 20 years ago have changed, as have the plants over the years...

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Insomnia has some uses, though I predict there may be was a nap later today as waking up just before 3am is not ideal. When further sleep was not happening decided to instead do some simple tasks: finished painting the primer layer on the small kitchen shelves, so they can be painted later today. cut out some of the new mesh to make a larger laundry washbag for the shirt with the glass buttons, which led to my organising the zipper storage drawer before putting that away. By then the sun was coming up, and I started preparing breakfast then went outside to do pruning and fill up the greenwaste bin while it was still nice and cool out. Hacked away some of the pesky ferns along the north walkway, then did much cutting back of enthusiastic Feral Grapevine. I think I managed to remove all the grape clusters, and most of what overhangs the neighbors yard. The wheelie bin is full. Securely packaged up the bundles of porcupine quills promised to Tammie, to be sent off by post later today

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	painted pony spots	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	two beaded dragons	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- I made a really tasty dinner last night, with lots of leftovers for Future Me to enjoy
- my pony earrings now have white appaloosa spots
- Ursel had a possible suggestion for handyfolx
- seeing Mouseland was delightful

Time of Isolation - Day 2207

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is full of plans ...

One fun weekend activity was figuring out Perlenwunderwesen's small beaded dragon pattern... It isn't on their YouTube, or in their Etsy shop. I saw their quick video tutorial on the book of Face, and also found their diagram of the beading structure. It is a great deal more complicated than the tiny frogs, but makes a quite lovely little 3D creature. In 8/0 beads it makes a dragon about 1¼" tall and just over 2" long. As soon as the first one was done, the remainder of the frog beads were turned into a second dragon, friend to the first, and they are now both on the way north to live with Kestrel. I'm quite tempted to try making one from 11/0 beads (a more common, if smaller, size that I've in a plentiful assortment of colors...)

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Ordered a mailbox delivered from Home Despot, that looked quite nice in the online photos, and had overwhemlingly good reviews. It arrived on Sunday and with great hopes of easily replacing the old rusty crusty mailbox, I opened the box. Alas it was not to be. The new mailbox was suffering a fatal lack of Quality Control from the factory. The lids were barely attached at all, one hinge pin entirely missing, and the other partially detached, missing any kind of lock washer to hold it in place and the inner and outer lids were rattling long enough in transit to scratch up the edges of the mailbox.  They don't carry that one in any of the local stores, so no chance of exchanging it, or seeing if a different one is in better shape. Instead, there was a long bus trip to Jantzen Beach to return it directly. Sigh. Searching online for a mailbox built rather more structurally sound as well as aesthetically inoffensive is going about as well as my search for a new kitchen faucet. Picky plucky heroine is picky...

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~ a working sketch ~

Just a very rough sketch of my current thoughts for the black "twill corduroy" pinafore; wanted to catch the idea before it vanished. After washing and a trip to the launderette for their extra hot dryers the fabric washed up nicely with almost no shrinkage. Since this like all corduroy has a nap, it cannot be cut as usual... Information from a sewing book read as a girl still clear in my mind, a with-nap layout means all the pieces need to be laid out with their "heads" all in the same direction.  

So... cut strips from selvedge to selvedge that are the height of the skirt gores, then cut away between each one to create flare, which will look more graceful than a dirndl style gathered skirt. Since there is rather a lot of this fabric (our plucky heroine having placed the order forgetting it was 56" wide not 45"), it will be possible to cut all the bodice and pocket pieces from the remaining fabric and have enough plenty leftover to cut edge binding from. There may even be enough to put aside more bias strips for other future projects.

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A care package full of special kindness from my Mud Bay pals was on my porch today. There are 4 big skeins of taupe Fishermans Wool, so I can start on swatching fancy cables for a future Aran-style sweater. There is a small bag full of walking onion bulbs, so I can find a new spot or two to restart allium self-sufficiency. And there is a glorious miniature print of the tiniest watercolor artwork of a hawk perched on a sewing machine (intended as a gift for tinyfolk Kenya Ogidni) that will eventually grace the wall in a Tansu Terrace sewing and crafting space. The artist Jaimee Lee Gentile will be at Art In The Pearl in September, a chance to see her work in person...

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adapted from "Du Iz Tak"  by Carson Ellis

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this is silly, but it is also me: The Sugarcoated Sisters - Aphantasia

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One unexpected benefit to not being good about pulling out the weeds, is that when they go to seed, goldfinches are delighted with the buffet! There were many of them right outside the bedroom window this morning, more than I have seen so close before... 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	two beaded dragons	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- goldfinches outside the bedroom window this morning
- tiny beaded dragons are delightful
- yarn, and walking onion starts, and a glorious miniature artwork gift were in my care package from Mud Bay

Time of Isolation - Day 2204

Thursday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine is baffled...

this morning I found a brand new and stillshrink wrappedreference book on my shelves, with no idea of how it arrived!?! "Codices Illustres", a Taschen art book about illuminated manuscripts. It wasn't with my other scribal reference books, and there have been no house guests that might have "planted" it as a surprise. Mysterious indeed!

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~ homegrown tree fruit mid-July ~

These are the fruits currently ripe here at Acorn Cottage... European black elder, and some variety of black fig (sold to me as Negronne) I picked a fair amount of the elderberries yesterday morning, before it got too hot, and spent time carefully plucking them from the stems. Ended up with 10 oz which are now in the freezer. Plan on picking as much as I can manage and then cooking them as immune support syrup. There are new safety guidelines for elderberry preserving, here from OSU, and from Penn State Because they can vary in acidity, it is necessary to use tested recipes, and because raw elderberries can contain cyanide compounds (that are deactivated by cooking) they must be cooked before consuming... 

The figs are easier. They can be eaten directly from the tree, or in combination with goat cheese or other savory things, or cooked into various treats. I plan on using some of my harvest to make a wee little fig and blueberry crisp, combining and smallifying some of these two recipes: Sticky Fig Blueberry Crisp and Fig Crisps with Buttery Nut Streusel. I like the idea of adding the small amount of remaining homegrown blueberries and some lemon from the former, and the latter idea of swapping out chopped nuts for the rolled oats in the topping. I suspect that the proportions of Apple Crisp for One will work well

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Last night's thunderstorm was very loud, full of thunder, some lightning, and almost no rain... I miss the damp thunder-n-lightning storms of my childhood on the other coast, when there was no fire season.

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good news on the garden front: the mock orange start, that seemed to have died, so was cut back but left (forgotten) in the pot seems to not be dead after all, as there is new small green growth showing. When it is no longer the heat of summer and the ground rock hard, I will find it a good spot to plant it in the ground... 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes-
- mysterious surprise reference art book
- mock orange is not dead
- somewhat cooler than yesterday

Time of Isolation - Day 2200

blast from the past

in which our plucky heroine answers Teresa's question...

Quite a few years ago, back in 2016, I made a creative interpretation of a cross-body bag, inspired by an archaeological find, some of the wooden handles found in Hedeby harbor. A number of artifacts have been found that are thought to be bag handles, and creating possible bags to use in that configuration became popular among parts of the reenactment community.

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this is the current iteration of my "Viking style" bag... It is made from handwoven striped wool, with a linen lining, and decorated with an embroidered wool patch and an interwoven brass wire "Birka-style" horse inset with mica. The bag handles are carved beechwood and the cross body shoulder strap is bark-tanned leather.

A top-down view looking into the bag when open... it shows how the wooden handles, which slide together along the braided leather portion of the shoulder strap when the bag is worn, can be separated to get access to the contents of the bag

Just a closer view of the metal and mica "Birka-style" horse. The archeological pieces are much smaller and made of gold wire; I used brass, for economy sake, and created a design similar to the Birka deer from grave 832. The pieces of mica set behind the openings in the design act like sequins, and sparkle in a delightful way when seen by firelight.

Ten years ago when I first made this cross-body bag, I miscalculated the strap length, and it was just a few inches too long for ideal use . The best length has the bottom of the bag at fingertip height. This year I decided to shorten the strap, which was a quite a challenge. Undoing the braiding, and/or the fancy stopper knots was not an option; and the flat portion of the strap had been securely glued, punched, and stitched like saddlery.

With great care, and mindful of "measure twice, cut once", the strap was cut in twain, the stitching undone, and the layers of leather carefully separated. The skills honed in my younger days when I swapped leather repair for riding lessons remain in my mind and my hands. The multiple strap ends had their stitching holes aligned with the outer layers overlapping, and the inner strap layers further cut down to reduce the strap thickness to three rather than four layers. It was tricksy to get right. I skived away some of the outer straps to further ease the transitions, then glued it back together and stitched it with waxed linen

The final strap repair, not invisible, but tidy and strong, and will last as long as it is needed, certainly will see me out...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	-
6	all the bead frogs	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes-
- a head full of knowledges and hands full of skills all gathered over many decades. 
- Past Me planted fruit trees
- all the frogs are done

Time of Isolation - Day 2199

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is partially crepuscular...

It is hot and hazy here. The little dog visiting me gets three walks a day, but the middle of the day walk is the shortest, if it is close to 88F (31C) it is really too hot for his little feet on the sidewalk. As my wellness checkup was very early this morning, it was still pleasantly cool for that first dogwalk, and riding my bike to my appointment was pleasant. It was mostly oddly overcast today, but when I checked the AQI, we are still within the green zone, at least for today. I worry about my friends (and everyone else!) in other places, where the smoke from the burning planet is so bad, I remember all too well what 2020, and 2017 were like here, and only the fluke of current wind direction has our air somewhat clear for now, there are hundreds of fires burning across the Pacific Northwest already this fire season.

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~ peculiar ~

Well this is a first! in all my years of sewing, never saw anything like this. The website described it as "black twill corduroy, 100% cotton... The price was good, and it was 56" wide. Since the photos were not really clear, I was imagining that perhaps the fabric had a subtle twill pattern printed on it. Nope. The base fabric is twill woven, and the corduroy wales are diagonally placed following the weave. It will be an interesting challenge to figure out how best to lay out the pattern pieces, since corduroy also has a definite nap. Not going to dive into this, but take as much time as needed to figure this one out before taking scissors to fabric. The good news is that twill weaves are more durable than tabby weave, so once this is made up into a garment it should last longer than usual. Wish me luck!!

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Sadly, found out today that my PCP, who has been on medical leave for the better part of a year, will not be returning. Dr E had been my physican for years, and I will miss how comfortable our interactions were. I'll have to attempt to find a new practitioner at the local clinic; it is eversomuch better to be able to get there on my bike rather than via one or more transit bus rides. 

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All the origami boxes have been folded for the "Greetings from Portland - 31 frogs" project, and there are only seven more beaded frogs to be made. My best source for (free) decorative paper is magazines from the "giveaway shelf" at the library; my rotary paper cutter makes fairly quick work of making origami paper squares.

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In the "thinking outside the box" mode, today while out riding my bike it occurred to me that it might be more cost effective to purchase a chicken tractor instead of hiring out ongoing lawn mowing for the backyard. I've been considering keeping hens again for quite some time, and it would be worth looking into... Even if it cost the same, chooks keep the grass short to non-existant, and in exchange for food and care, homegrown eggs are supply chain resilient and very tasty.

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes-
- my rotary papercutter, which has made it much easier to turn pretty scrap paper into origami paper
- passed my wellness checkup with flying colors
- it was pleasantly cool early this morning, which made having to get up extra early for a medical appointment worthwhile.

Time of Isolation - Day 2197

Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine has a moderately productive weekend...

The first thing I saw looking out my bedroom window this morning was a charm of goldfinches enjoying the various bird feeders my good next door neighbors have in their side yard. Goldfinches are sometimes migratory, so these might be traveling north, as I usually don't see them all the year round. Not only is the yellow and black coloring (of the male birds) distinctive, but the way goldfinches fly is as well, in swooping curves. They always make me smile.

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Mt Washmore and Mt Dishmore have both been conquered this weekend, and almost all of the clean laundry has been put away as well. The only good thing about the hot sunny weather is that the laundry on the clothesline dries fast!

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Last night found the correct tiny beaded dragon tutorial online, after searching for several days. It is much more complicated than the tiny frogs that are my current Advent Swap project, but I really want to make a dragon for Kestrel, and now I can. I also found a tutorial for a 3D beaded fox, which may increase my understanding of complex beaded patterns. Besides who wouldn't love a tiny fox (or a tiny dragon)?

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~ sharing is caring ~

There is a house over near one of the local parks that has several fruit trees in their yard next to the sidewalk, all currently loaded down with ripening fruit, and apparently the folks that live there want to share the bounty. Around the corner on the other side of their yard is a similar sign for "free figs". I love how they also describe the fruit, and how to know when it is ripe. Mutuality at a neighborhood level♡

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In addition to knitting just a little bit further on my Tabby Cat cowl during zoomtime, this morning also saw me file and sand the cut edges of the cut-to-size pieces of two old yardsticks that'd been earmarked for shelf edging on the kitchen storage shelves project. Am always seeking small handwork projects that don't require high focus or a lot of space, to do during online visiting. So embroidery yes, but cutting out fabric nope, etc. Smoothing and rounding off the rough cut edges was useful, and now they're ready to be attached to the shelves. By the end of the summer there will be moar storage!!

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For the first time, I had a disappointment in my Alibris order. One of the sellers misrepresented the condition of their book on offer as "Very Good [...] pages are unmarked". This was not the case - 23 pages (almost two full chapters) inside the book were chock full of underlining and notes written in ink! I would have chosen a different seller had I known that it was not as described. I have been buying used books on that interface for quite a few years, with good results prior to this. Off to the copy store and the post office tomorrow!

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Ann Wood shared about the ten year history of Miss Thistle and the tiny rag doll pattern on her most recent blog post. A very fun read!

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In the interest of creating a safer tuna salad, today I chopped up some of my fermented daikon to add texture instead of raw celery, and used Penzeys "Justice" mix for allium instead of green onion... it was quite tasty, if a bit softer crunch-wise. Plus there is the health benefit of more probiotic goodness, and the peculiar fun of hot pink pieces.

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes-
- tuna salad with pink probiotic daikon pickle is yummy
- only need to make 10 more frogs to meet my goal of 31
- Wellington is here for a few days
- found the tiny beaded dragon tutorial online, after searching for several days. I'll need to figure out how best to transcribe it from a much too speedy video reel into a usable reference format.

Time of Isolation - Day 2196

Thursday thoughts and throwbacks

in which our plucky heroine enjoys a cooler grey day...

Best thing today was noticing that for the first time ever, the black fig tree in the front yard has ripe figs. I picked a half dozen this morning, and there are at least that many or more still on the tree that will need my fruit picker to reach. I ate one as a snack, yum!

Cut away all the overgrown lovage this afternoon, removed an armload of false dandelion, finished deadheading the culinary sage, went ahead and trimmed the hardy fuschia back from the walkway, and cut the top off the nandina where it was growing into the porch roof. Incremental progress is still progress

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~ incremental ~

after a gentle bit of steam blocking, just enough to smooth out the knitting, it is easier to see the subtle pattern of grey and dark brown. The Tabby Cat cowl will be a good addition for the grey/black/brown "accessories wardrobe" this winter. I'm also thinking about a black corduroy pinafore to take the place of the worn-out vertical pique.

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Apparently I didn't dream it was raining, it actually did rain in the middle of the night. And the thunder that sort of woke me from the dreamlands was likely real as well. It is pleasantly grey this morning, though that is due to burn off and we shall have hot and sunny for the next however long....

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Throwback Thursday: in 2009 I was at the Oregon Country Fair

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I've been gradually cutting out kitchen storage shelf parts, using what is on hand. Started with the actual shelves, from what was intended as workroom trim board years ago, salvaged from the Rebuilding Center. Now that those two are cut to size, to hold five Talenti tubs each, it occurred to me that though there is no suitable molding to keep them secure on the shelf, I could use one of my stash of wooden yardsticks. Those are the right dimensions, only needing to be cut to a Useful Length, and are sturdy enough for the task.  Since they, along with the shelves will be painted I could use the less attractive skinny yardsticks. The upper shelf can readily be attached to the wall once it is fabricated, but the lower shelf needs access to the narrow space between the chest freezer and the wall to anchor the brackets. My cunning plan is to install the second shelf when defrosting freezer later this summer, while it is pulled away from the wall.

In other kitchen related news, I did get over to A-Boy and asked about the faucet I liked several years ago. Though their inventory says they still have three in stock, the kindly manager was unable to find them. He suggested I return next week when the person who is in charge of that area is back from vacation. It is time to replace the kitchen faucet. Which first requires acquisition of a new one...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- the mosaic knit motifs in my current Tabby Cat bandana cowl is really easy to memorise and to "see" where you are in the pattern
- white peaches (or white nectarines) so yummy, and not difficult to peel for safety sake.
- There are ripe black figs on the tree in my front yard, for the first time ever!!

Time of Isolation - Day 2194

assorted Pelican regalia

in which our plucky heroine collects together images of some of the Pelican medallions I've made over the years...

for my non-SCA friends, these pendants and brooches are regalia (symbolic jewelry) worn by folks who have received an honor for ongoing service to the SCA organisation at a highly significant level.

one of the smallest enamels


very small Norse filigree style


large Pelican in a textured nest


Pel-Laurel pearl border


Norse style enamel Pelican


Pel-Laurel with diapered border


triple Peerage collaborative medallion


Large lozenge Pel-Laurel


Black Pelican 


basic Pelican

 
the "bad" Pelican


Birka style silver filigree


Celtic style Pelican

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wishful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine knows that you don't know what you got till it's gone...

I miss so much of what was good and easy in the Before Times in the summer. I miss there not being "fire season". I miss being able to "go swimming". I miss being able to cook without worrying about dangerous parasites in our food. 

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~ another warm day ~

"Hot Town, Summer in the City"...I miss access to water. Seven years ago we had a city pool a short bike ride away from Acorn Cottage, but that pool has been shut down ever since the beginning of the pandammit.When I was a child in Los Angeles, most of the places we lived had a swimming pool in the backyard. It was a different world all those long (or short) years ago. While I am grateful for running water at all, I do very much long to submerge my body and just float for a bit...

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Went to the copy store for hardcopy of the knitting graphs for the Murano Squares pattern I'm using for the Tabby Cowl and also the Acorn and Oakleaf Sweater pattern and charts. While I don't intend to make that sweater as shown, I want to really be clear about knitting the acorn and oak leaf cable, as my intention is to make that part of my future Aran-style cardigan sometime this winter. It is good to have some ongoing knitting. The cowl is first, because small and fairly light. Soon I'll also start on the Northern Lights cardigan, as that gets knit in several pieces (sleeves first, and then the lower body) before they are all joined together for the fancy colorwork yoke. That should work out really well coordinating with the probably weather over the next few months. 

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It will likely be safe to use boxed spinach in my crustless quiche. Not only do I first wash it well, but then it gets thoroughly steamed, cooled and chopped to bits, then mixed into the quiche ingredients and it all is baked at 350°F for a half hour. By the time it comes out of the convection oven the entire casserole is bubbling hot, so surely over the 158°F for 15 minute requirement.

I have some ideas for a substitute for raw celery, which is a required ingredient in egg salad and potato salad. Mischa suggested water chestnuts, which have the advantage of coming in small quantities. A not-huge jicama root might also work, if cubed up small, or a rather bland apple? Also wondering about peeled Persian cucumber cut into cubes? Or maybe just not try to replicate what once was easy. 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	5 more bead frogs	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- always grateful for the heat pump cool air
- Past Me has been good about putting extra portions in the freezer, so there are usually meals that can be put together when I don't feel like cooking
- chatting with Mischa

Time of Isolation - Day 2193

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine is curious...

a waft of a different sort of Before Times memory: summer sandals... I clambered out of bed and slipped my feet into my Birkenstocks. Before heading over to pick out and put on my compression socks of the day. My body remembered the sensation of bare legs and feet from when I was younger, before cancer surgery saved my life and incidentally took that particular option away. Unlike most of my Before Times memories, this one didn't make me sad, or angry, it was just neutral content. Surprised me a bit since I can't pull up somatic  or tactile memory independently, but apparently it can be triggered by specific input? Wonder if this is related to my aphantasia...

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~ from "cats invad(e)" ~

"cats invad shcool for pets!"... page 6 of the upcoming book. Today I cut out all the page graphics so they'll be ready to be glued in place, and calculated the strip of paper needed for the accordion style backing pages. Really looking forward to creating this tiny book!

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Started the second half of the 31 frogs project, now that the green beads arrived. The Barrel of Beads website has very accurate photos, at least I was pleased and not surprised to see the colors of beads that I'd ordered. It will take a little while to make 16 more frogs, but the three I've done so far are a good start.

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I found my missing eyeglasses. For some reason I left them sitting in the not quite empty dish drainer on the kitchen counter. WTF?!

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- pretty green beads becoming more tiny frogs
- today I saw a swallowtail butterfly while I was riding through the park. I think, based on later research, that it was a "two tailed swallowtail" as that variety is both found on the west coast, and likes to frequent open space including even city parks.
- though the blueberry harvest is close to done, there was enough for my breakfast museli this morning

Time of Isolation - Day 2192

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine...

Spent enough so much time Sunday combining the various "cats invade" images into a single page printable image, that by the time I finished the local copy shops were all closed. My plan is to make a miniature "large scale art book", at 1½" tall it would be about an 18" full size book. It will be an edition of at least two, since my miniature library needs a copy in addition to the one I plan to send to Kestrel

Guess a miniature coffee table will also be needed! For some reason I've been imagining something midcentury style with a partial mosaic tabletop, (maybe using the colored eggshells I've been saving) Time for more image research, maybe Sunset Magazine's "Furniture You Can Build" will have something inspiring?

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~ well worth it ~

I rode again to the St Johns Library this morning, inspired by the most recent post in "Slowpoke", Carson Ellis' substack journal. She mentioned that there were coloring sheets available, which sounded like fun. Her post has much better photos and information about the mural in the children's room as well.  While the librarian was busy tracking down where the coloring pages were, I looked carefully at the other details of the remodel I'd missed on my first visit, things that my pal Ursel (the architect) had mentioned, like the ceiling treatments in the transition hallway. Overall I am really glad seeing "our tax dollars at work" as refurbishing and making more accessible and beautiful such a needful public good as libraries makes me happy.

(photo above is of a small detail on one of the two new colorful outdoor sculptures at the St Johns Library)

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Discovered Adam Cleevely's conversation with Xandy Peters a wide ranging interview. I'm going to have to check out more of Adam's podcasts. I was a tiny bit familiar with Xandy Peters since knitting their renowned pattern Fox Paws back in 2014...

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My old overalls pattern has some very mysterious leg gusset pattern pieces that it isn't clear to me perzactly how they join the rest of the legs. My original overalls made from this pattern are long gone, but hoping that the oldest pair of overalls I made for Beth years ago will maybe have helpful information. Karen and I plan to look tomorrow during our regular Tuesday video chat.

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- an almost two hour phone call with dear friend Rois
- beautiful beads for future froggies arrived today 
- I found some Japanese-style printmaking paper at the art store today that should work well for pages in the "Cats Invade" tiny book

Time of Isolation - Day 2191

Saturday snippets...

in which our plucky heroine is a bit scattered...

There are a number of projects currently making it into the bright world from the world of ideas. The only one finished so far is the conversion of the grey stripey dress into a Brambly Hedge style slip. Karen suggested using some lightweight linen for the bodice as an alternative to my struggles to modify the dress bodice, and that was an excellent idea. It also let me double check the alternative pinafore pattern last used for the black vertical pique back in 2012. The bodice of the pattern still fits, so it'd be good to think about sewing up a replacement pinafore, as after 14 years, it is sadly worn to a raveling. I wish there was some way to get more of that beautiful and durable fabric!

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~ a bit overgrown ~

The hardy fuschia is really enthusiastic this year, taking over part of the front door walkway! As it is full of various bees, and sometimes hummingbirds, I'm loath to prune it back...

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If I still lived in New England, I would surely make the trip to the Society of Illustrators museum in NYC just to see this exhibition "All Around Us: The Art of Carson Ellis" that opens August 15th. It is a bit far to travel from here. I shall attempt to acquire a show catalogue once they are available

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As gradual decluttering of the kitchen countertops happens, I've been thinking about better ways to organise supplies that are used often. Some shallow shelves for talenti tubs holding small quantities of bulk dry goods would be both handy and tidy. A scrap of wood once intended as workroom baseboard is just the right width to become such shelves. 

Making another pot lid rack for the kitchen door would be good, there is another vintage yardstick (and some small scraps) that can all be cut to size, glued together, and mounted on the door above the one already there... also finding a good spot to store new cookpots is needed, maybe move rarely used appliances off sideboard into the pantry or a storage closet? The dehydrator is only used in autumn for persimmons and pears, and the rest of the year is taking up a sizeable chunk of kitchen real estate. Eventually inside the cabinets will be decluttered as well, freeing yet more space.

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Rummaging in the chest freezer, a large ziploc full of last years homegrown plums will be a good addition to morning museli. There are still a few ripening blueberries on the bush outside the living room window. Given the increase in cases of parasitic cyclospora infection of unknown source(s?) it seems wise to be cautious of any raw produce not grown in my own yard. So, more cooked veggies this summer, and any grocery store fruit will become compote or sauce. 

Washing produce does not remove the parasite enough to make it "safe", not plain water, not vinegar, or chlorine, or other produce wash additives. It is not killed by freezing. Heat over 158 F will kill it... Washing hands both before and after handling raw produce is highly advised.

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- tasty eggs from Drusa's hens (saving the green eggshells for some miniature mosaic)
- found a big ziploc full of last years frozen plums... safe homegrown fruit to eat without cooking it first!
- today was not beastly hot, managed to get by without AC
- Alice Starmore's "Aran Knitting" (ordered from Alibris on Tuesday) arrived today.

Time of Isolation - Day 2189

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine is confused...

No idea why there was no recent message about today's cancelled medical appointment, but after getting out the door a little after 6 and arriving at just before what I thought was my 8 AM clinic visit, it was a surprise and not a treat to find out that the doctor wasn't there. Since I'd skipped breakfast to get there on time, the ground floor cafe was an option for a bowl of take-out real oatmeal, then ate outdoors on the not really sekrit second floor patio. In all the years of various medical visits I've never seen anyone else in that space, though there is occasional evidence by way of food wrappers in the trash can

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~ well worth seeing ~

It was surprisingly difficult to successfully photograph the Carson Ellis mural at the St Johns Library children's room, really seeing it in person is the best option, but this fragment gives a hint at the delight.

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Started converting the stripey dress into a Brambly Hedge slip. It was time consuming attaching the eyelet to the hemline edge, the only "difficulty" being the length of the hem. The dress sleeves were cut off to salvage fabric for bias strips to finish the enlarged neck and armsceye edges, which is the next step. This will be a rare slip indeed with the large pockets of an everyday dress, but somehow seems quite suitable for the aesthetic. Lastly, the large machine sewn patch (that never quite disguised the ink spot) will be removed, the stain cut away and repaired with a smaller and less obtrusive patch.

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A while back was online chatting with Acantha about my idea of adapting the WonderBag concept to use the mylar bubblepack leftovers from grocery orders to create an insulated cozy for off-stove cookery. She found a somewhat larger than needed (5 qt) but excellent cookpot and sent it up here to PDX via Gersvinda, and it recently arrived on the front porch. A good scrubbing tonight and it will be ready for use, will allow me to retire my other large pot for textile dyeing instead, and shall inspire experimentation to create insulated "containers" from various salvaged materials...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- cooking pot from Acantha, transported by Gersvinda
- sleeping when tired
- had a delightful conversation with Mischa yesterday about the small god of lost things, or more accurately the god of things lost and found, and what sort of shrine offerings would be most suitable. While this pertains to the game we are working on restarting, it also seems pertinent to Actual Life. There are art projects in mind...

Time of Isolation - Day 2188