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

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine makes progress...

Today was a good day for working on the enameling for John, as it is rainy and pleasantly cool. It'll be good to get the time spent in front of the kiln over with in the next few days, as the weather forecast is for the temperatures to rise 30 degrees by next Monday.

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~ heat whiplash ~

The forecast is for almost a 40 degree temperature rise between today and this coming weekend...

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It does me good to notice that various of my friends do think of me despite my absence. Meagn rather amusingly refers to me as the "Anchorite of Arbor Lodge" but nonetheless stopped by on Saturday and gifted me with a maneki neko treat box containing two pair of chopsticks, condiment bowls and chopstick rests. So kawaii! And Dear Vestia messaged me about some assorted blue upholstery fabric remnant pieces she found and will be sending me. 

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Yesterday I started a small jar ferment of daikon, colored pink with a few slices of beet. There are some signs of activity, at least there are tiny bubbles forming around the slices. Hopefully this will be more successful than my attempt at sauerkraut. It should be pretty, too

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	-	-
3	5th god corner block	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- found the missing box of 31 owls, hidden in plain sight
- the heat pump makes cooler air fall from the ceiling, and the solar attic fan pulls the superheated attic air out whenever the sun shines
- made good progress today on the enamels for John

Time of Isolation - Day 2160

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine appreciates wonderful friends...

Beth said something really important at Crafternoon Sunday: about how not all of us are a Frodo, or a Sam, but there needs some to be Tom Bombadil too, and some to be Faramir. That the singers of songs, makers of beauty, and providers of respite are also heroes and heroines, and vital to the story.

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~ betcha can't knit just one... ~

While I was knitting a Placket Tee in pale green wool a few days ago, for Almandine, I was inspired to not join it together in the round while knitting it but just continued back and forth on the two needles, with the garter stitch border all the way down. I had thought, “Oh, I will just add snaps to fasten it”, but before I did that, I tried it on her with the opening in the front. The pattern makes the cutest Tiny Rag Doll sized vest!!

Then of course all my other tinyfolk began clamoring for vests of their own, in colors that coordinated with their wardrobe preferences. Since the only purple "yarn" I had was a skein of #3 DMC pearl cotton, I decided to try that for Kenya's vest. Much to my surprise, it knitted up into an acceptable fabric and gauge on my size 0 needles. I hate knitting with cotton, but these are small enough that I decided to "use what I had" and added three more little pearl cotton vests to the big tin box of dolly clothing. I like the additional color options...

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I've been thinking lately about creating a shrine to Anti-Weasel Serum, and what that might look like, and what it would need to contain... just a bit of spinning subroutine in my brain so far, but soon will be sketches. I can feel it getting closer to the world of form and design

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	4 tiny knit vests	-	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. Mikki found the feature that was actually a bug that was causing giant blob interface overlapping both of my monitors Discord problem, and what was needed to fix it!
2. Stef was able to spend online time helping me find where the fixit chunk of code was hidden inside the laptop, and how to get it to let me do the tiny edit that would fix the Discord problem
3. Beth had words of Mighty Anti-Weasel Serum power, that I really needed to hear, and have recopied for future referral to.

Time of Isolation - Day 1452