use what you have...

in which our plucky heroine is slow but steady...

and bearing in mind that the perfect is the enemy of the good, there now is a pot lid rack on the kitchen door...

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~ it took three days ~

I've been using the top of the washing machine as a staging area for the assorted tools needed to make this project happen, though there were some detours to the tiny drill press for some nice perpendicular screw guide holes. Relieved the sharp edges of the very small angle brackets with files, as there must needs not be places where a careless hand might get cut.

There is no door between the entryway/living room, but there is a door between the kitchen and the workroom (which several owners ago was a garage). Most of the time, that door is left open, and the noren provide a visual border, though the door does get closed when stovetop cooking happens, because the smoke alarm is a very special snowflake and likes to scream at any steam arising...

... but now, behind the noren, there is a tidy line up of pot lids for those that can't be looped around their pot or pan handles, where they are easily accessible and entirely out of the way. I'll certainly be painting the door later on, when it is warm enough to have the windows open for a few hours, and may add labels for which pot or pan each lid is associated with.

It was pure good fortune that the space available on the door was just right for the four pot lids that needed to be stored there. Now I get to figure out what (if anything) needs to be in the spot above the bakers rack where the lids formerly lived

This is the structure of this whole project, made from bits and bobs from around the house... Since the wooden framework of the hollow core door was less than ¾" wide, the attachment points must also need be no more than ½" wide. Two pieces of scrap lumber cut square and glued and screwed perpendicular form the risers, with appropriate grain direction so all the screws are not going into end grain. Figuring all this out took far more time than it sounds like it should, aphantasia is not my friend.

There was also a fair amount of wrestling the two detached brackets in place, with the yardstick balanced atop so there was a spot to place the level, as the brackets need to not only anchor the cross piece level, but also need to be offset from the actual door edge just enough so the door can close! Our plucky heroine is right pleased that this turned out as well as it did, and that the pot lids will also be much easier to reach now.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	blood orange marmalade	bike headlamp	yard waste bin
2	heraldic enamel	passport photo	recycle bin
3	crayon roll	crystal necklace	recycle bin
4	xp2 undies	pattern longjanes	-
5	pot lid rack	passport applied for	-
6	x	pear tree planted	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. Pot lid rack successfully completed
2. A bike ride on a cold day, all the way out past St Johns, for a total of 8K steps
3. Had a chance to talk with my brother on the phone
4. New social media "diet" may be why my chronic nightmares have decreased. I know that correlation is not causation, but am hopeful nonetheless

Time of Isolation - Day 1649

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine wakes up tired...

The Dreamlands last night was strange and full of potential conflict unpleasant, exhausting, and disturbing. From walking along a busy elevated highway verge and across bridges taking photos of analog San Francisco, to walking through a hot dusty urban environment with men lined up for food relief and vaccination tents, to dodging around corners to be less visible to soldiers and grateful for my head to toe garments that made me look more like I belonged there. Sometimes in the Dreamlands I have a task, sometimes I have allies, sometimes I can parse out my dreams, and sometimes they are just a mystery.

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time in the tinyworld:

Among the various miniature tidbits I brought home from back East is this little porcelain doll. She is quite a bit smaller than Nandina et al, more the size of a six year old. Apparently I didn't feel confident to make her clothing back in the day, as she is simply wrapped in fabric with a strand of beads as a belt. She too may end up living in Tansu Terrace... though she will need both a name, and some clothes.  My friend Ariadne suggested that she looks like an Emilia, and I think therefore, that her name is Emilia Kaolin... known by an assortment of nicknames as well (Emmy, Em-kay, K, etc)

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Making progress on the attachment of the side rails. Using the combination square together with the wide metal ruler allowed easily marking an even depth from the top edge of the wooden sides, despite their rounded reeded edging. C-clamps held the steel side rails in place so as to drill placement holes for the screws. It still required rather a lot of wrist strength to do the actual attachment, until I remembered to simply use the phillips screw bit in the electric drill. I suppose if I did this sort of thing more often, I would remember these little clevernesses.

The attachment of the center support is the next needful bit. By resting it in the rope web, I was reassured that there is enough give in the ropes that there is room for the depth of that steel U-channel without my needing to remove the rope web from the bed. I would rather keep it in place as a backup, and also to avoid the several hours it would take to unlace the bed. Placing the brackets that hold the center support in place is a challenge I've not yet figured out, since those brackets do not end up at a matching height to the side rails. Heigh ho and onward. Once the assorted bed support hardware is in place, the rest of this project will hopefully be straightforward: Place slats, staple textile strips, unroll mattress, et voila!

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Kestrel's friends clothes	replace clothesline	yard waste bin
2	tiny green flannel dress	repair Nandina overalls	recycle bin
3	individual cheesecake	sew buttons on blouse	-
4	-	old mattress off bed	-
5	-	bed slats shorter	-
6	-	Nandina overall pockets	-
7	x	move towel holder	x
8	x	bedrails attached	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - determination to surmount fear

Time of Isolation - Day 813

try try again...

in which our plucky heroine makes a second beginning...

I intend to do a modest amount of SCA sewing for myself this year, to use some of the fabrics I have on hand, to decorate the fabrics with block printing and embroidery, and to look a bit more at some historical styles I've not yet attempted. My current efforts will be to create some Russian/Slavic clothing, because I love the bling, particularly the temple ring ornaments, because I can indulge my embellisher's heart with trimming the cuffs, necklines, hemlines and suchlike in various ways, and because I would very much like to use the embroidered neckline and cuffs from my elevation gown on some clothing I can wear nowadays.

Last week I started on cuff trim for a rubakha (a linen underdress with extra long sleeves, that are pushed up along the forearm for a sort of ruched effect; I've enough thin white linen on my fabric shelves for the project, though I will need to piece some of the fabric on the body). I am wanting to use what I have rather than buy more new fabric.

some trim motif sketches

My first attempt at the cuff embroidery was not entirely successful...

metallic floss on silk ikat, 1" wide

after beginning working on sleeve cuff embroidery (above) I'm thinking, looking more closely at a better scan of the line drawing, that the foliate shapes *between* the arches are done with a different technique than the arches themselves. (arches appear to be done in something like an outline stitch, see below)

I am considering three different options for the foliage: block printing with metallic ink, applique with metallic leather, or actual metal plaques (or I could fill them solidly with embroidery). My inclination is to go for block printing, because I have the supplies on hand, because my other plans for this particular set of clothing are more an interpretation than a specific reproduction, and because it is significantly faster than fill embroidery. I know, because I did a set of collar, neckline, and cuff trim for Marya's elevation.

So, I'm starting over on my decorative trim for my rubakha. My new plan involved a combination of block printing and metallic embroidery, possibly in addition to some seed pearls. I was very pleased to recently find just a few more of the small spherical brass buttons from India, which I will use for the cuff closures.

corbie and foliage blocks 1" tall, embroidery sample,
metallic block printing ink sample, tiny buttons, silk ikat
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February SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	one pelican head	restrung grey beads	paper recycling
2	second pelican head	dial tone regained	frontyard prunings
3	x	bra elastics renewed	bag to Goodwill
4	x	-	-
5	x	x	-
6	x	x	-
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - I am grateful for the random treasures in my unsorted stash boxes, which sometimes turn out to have just what I need. I thought I had used all the remaining metal sphere buttons on the Marya project in 2018, and was not particularly keen on the thought of DIY options. This uses up yet another bit of stash, (and the shirt they came off will be turned into a kitchen apron for wee Kestrel)

the Upson Downs

in which our plucky heroine attempts to navigate the upson downs...fortunately more ups than downs, but still...

I'm no sort of a carpenter, and I don't even play one on teevee... but slowly I am building a modular chicken house. Last night I was able to finish attaching all the diagonal bracing and the raised edges, so that the first part, the base, is completed!

This is the base, currently upside down on the big worktable; Heather very kindly cut all eight of the diagonal braces for me this afternoon using my little handsaw miter box. This will be a tall-legged base (the better to use a wheelbarrow to clear away the used bedding), which will support the second module, the actual chicken house, which will have a 1/2" hardware cloth metal mesh "roof" to protect from varmints and allow ventilation. The third module, the roof, will be a wooden structure supporting corrugated fiberglass roofing, for light transmission. The three parts will fasten together, probably with snap hooks or carabiners, and when the time comes to move the house to a different part of the yard, can be unfastened and moved as modules, much lighter to deal with than the current chicken house which takes at least 3 or 4 people to shift

Fortunately, I have a few basic clamps, which allowed me to properly complete this part of the project. As it became more 3-D it got to where I couldn't just use gravity to hold the pieces in place so I could pre-drill and screw them together. Obviously, this is part of why *real* woodworkers have lots and lots of clamps

This is my favorite part of what I did... the two angle braces for each leg sort of intersected, as is visible in the previous photo, but the sharp end of the one stuck out above the edge of the other, which would have made it potentially painful if picked up just wrong. So, I deployed my trusty japanese pull saw and just sawed the corner off the pokey end. Good enough is better than perfect!

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While tidying the sewing bits prior to the last two days of wood-butchery, the missing embroidered hat topper for Kestrel showed up in a bag of miscellaneous notions, which gives me the idea to actually finish putting the enlarged hat together, since the weather has become much colder all of a sudden. Surely small kiddo could use a layered wool hat again.

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Yesterday yielded a pleasant surprise... I was rummaging around and found a thrifted EILEEN FISHER boucle wool cardigan! It is a very dark brown/almost black, and basically fits me, although it is too long in the body. I am considering using it for my RTW component for SWAP, if I can figure out how best to remove about six inches from the lower torso. I guess at just under 5'2" I'm somewhat shorter than her target demographic. Cutting off the bottom would also remove the pockets, alas, but I think that the proportion of shorter jacket over my longer skirts would look better.

I'm planning on retaining the neckline, as it has a very functional convertible collar, I like the buttons, the sleeves are just the right length (really surprising given my short little dinosaur arms), etc. I need to shorten the cardigan by about 6 1/2" as the only difficulty is that the jacket comes down to my hips, which are wider than that of the target demographic, particularly for a size M!! and that the jacket fronts are doubled, rather than simply put together with a facing.

here is the original cardigan:

and here is how it would look shorter:

though of course, it would be a bit less bunchy in the shorter version once it was actually shortened instead of simply having the excess folded up inside, which adds another two layers of boucle to my midsection... IMHO, the shorter length comes closer to approaching a 2/5 to 3/5 proportion between upper garment and lower garment, which seems more attractive and less dowdy.

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while riding the bus, when I ran out of embroidery to do I entertained myself by planning out the intersections of SWAP 2019, the Winter 6PAC, the pre-SWAP Dress challenge, and the 2019 Wardrobe Challenge. Which is not as crazy as it sounds. I decided a number of years ago that I'd only sew things I needed, so these are all either wardrobe improvements or test garments for the former.

Wardrobe Challenge: October - black/brown stars flannel shirt test for SWAP woven shirts (I have no woven shirts/blouses, and getting this sorted out would give me a new TNT pattern), and maybe a denim/leather knitters backpack sort of tote bag; November - finish my rain capelet, and a pair of handknit gloves. Pre-SWAP Dress challenge: make an everyday dress from the indigo pinstripe fabric, and for the new technique, draft and add a peter pan collar, and add a button band to the center front of the bodice (all my old everyday dresses are worn out, so I definitely can use some new ones, and this dress will actually be my "sewn after the rules but before SWAP sewing" garment. Winter 6PAC: black/brown flannel shirt, black rain capelet, indigo pinstripe dress, brown knit top, brown corduroy pinafore, and taupe/teal feather print knit top. (the last two are also part of SWAP, and if I sew them towards the end of 6PAC, that will work with the SWAP timetable..

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Dental FU, or why our plucky heroine is madder than a wet hen, in fact I am FURIOUS! I just got fired as a patient at the OHSU dental school. The student I had, in consultation with his faculty, decided that since I am phobic about novacaine injections that I am not a good candidate for having my dental care done there, despite the fact that previous dental students were willing to either do the cleaning without novacaine or to work with me on handling the injections in a way that was less of a problem. I am particularly furious because I was not included in making this decision, or allowed any comments. Right now I am just SO MAD... I mean, last week they called me to make sure that I transfered my OHP/Medicaid to the dental school, which I did, and now I am being shut out? Plus the few suggestions that they gave me over the phone are for places that do not even accept OHP? I need to be a bit more calm before I ask to talk to the patient advocate office. I am not sure what the next steps will be.

What makes me most angry is that I *explained* to the student exactly what the former student figured out about how to give me the novacaine in a way I could tolerate, and he ignored my information and request. Former dental student figured out that if the novacaine was injected more slowly and gradually, taking several minutes per shot, so that the numbness spread out before the needle is moved deeper, that the whole process was not agonizingly painful. It takes longer to give each injection that way, but it makes all the difference. There were four injections into the upper left quadrant of my mouth. I felt each one, and they were not given slowly enough to pre-numb the tissue prior to further insertion. If at the beginning they had told me that I was going to get four injections, that would have helped me mentally prepare, at least a little. Plus even though I told them prior to my appointment that I wanted to have nitrous, the student asked me again if I needed it, and wasn't I willing to try doing without. The whole thing was just SNAFUed. I have had deep cleanings done without any novacaine at all, and while it wasn't "fun" it was tolerable, and certainly not traumatic. I had nightmares for two nights after last Friday.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Thora gown	Earthboxes filled	bag to Goodwill
2	Isabel gown	woodchips moved	-
3	chookhouse base	x	-
4	x	x	-
5	x	x	-
6	x	x	-
7	x	x	-
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

catching up...

In which our plucky heroine enjoys Useful Company... (Young Heather came down for the weekend and worked on the yard, while I sewed like the wind in the sewing room)

But let's back up a little bit. Thursday last was Chipdrop Day! At last, after signing up last spring, a load of wood chippings finally arrived. About the size of a small automobile, and I am glad it didn't arrive on October 31st, as it is currently sort of blocking the front walkway. Mulch on the hoof as it were... there will be much work with shovel and rake, burden cloth and wheelbarrow ahead!

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Thora's gown is finished! I am acting here as a dress stand, Thora is quite a bit taller than me, and there is actually also an underdress that has a wide band of the same golden printed fabric bordered in madder red linen, which will show below the hemline of this gown, which will be calf length on her... All the various decorated fabrics were hand printed in multiple colors, using blocks that I hand carved. This was a vastly complicated project, but the results seem worth the effort. Some of the motifs on the printed fabric reflect Thora's personal heraldry and the household badge, as well as various historical textile motifs and designs. The beautiful shot silk cuffs started out as fabric from her wedding gown.

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Isabel forepart apron is also completed, and she kindly agreed to bring the rest of her Viking Age clothing with her this weekend, and to act as a model so I could take a picture of her new forepart apron "as worn". The trillium flowers are part of her personal heraldry, and the new decorative apron will add  touch of elegant formality to her SCA wardrobe, just in time for some of the indoor events this winter.

Heather (Isabel) has done an incredible amount of work this weekend in my yard... She hauled 16 loads of chips into the backyard from Mt Chipmore in the driveway, raked and leveled them over the worst of the anklebending divots, thereby making the middle of the yard much safer for walking on... and carried each of those Really Heavy cement pier blocks from the side yard (one at a time, as they weigh over 65 pounds each) to create a raised platform for my planter boxes. The Earthbox planters, now raised up for ease of accessibility, are in the part of the yard that gets sun from dawnlight to midafternoon, the best part of the yard for gardening...

I am impressed and pleased! Sunday the planters were filled with fresh amended soil, so that they can become next year's garlic beds. Astonishingly all those wood chips barely made a dent in Mt Chipmore. It will probably be possible to really, if gradually. create a much smoother backyard zone It was worth waiting all those months for Chipdrop to finally get me some chips, and once we manage to get them all into the backyard and other areas that need mulched, I intend to put my name on their list again.

And we got a good start on the base of the new modular chicken house, so that I have both a plan for going on ahead with that project, and some of the components ready to hand. Heather sawed out all the diagonal bracing for the base, so really all I need to do is drill a bunch of holes, and carefully assemble the leg components. Well, and think about what will be needed to assemble the actual chicken house, and the complicated roof structure. (I've a clever idea about how to make the roof)

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Woe and alas, on my trip to the dentist on Friday, the nitrous did not help anywhere near as much as it did the first time. I had four shots of novocaine and I felt every injection, and there was much crying, and shaking from the pain, and even some small yelps screams. I Hate It SO Much, and I hate being so phobic and reactive about the novocaine (I've no issues with dental work in general). So, they only were able to clean about a quarter of my mouth this time, and there is a whole 'nother quadrant left to go. I don't think I could have held still for any more injections. And then all Friday night I had terrible nightmares about the same thing all over again.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Thora gown	Earthboxes filled	bag to Goodwill
2	Isabel gown	woodchips moved	-
3	x	x	-
4	x	x	-
5	x	x	-
6	x	x	-
7	x	x	-
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

wishful Wednesday - MOAR fan arrays

in which our plucky heroine laments ignorance...

This is a vertical fan array, built by Godwyn, which I designed to fit the sliding windows here at Acorn Cottage, to bring in cool night air all night long whilst also keeping home security unimpaired.

Since he doesn't want to build more of these, I need to learn how to DIY the fans/switch/plug combination to make more of them; if I had three more, I could run fans in all the vertical windows all night long, which would significantly help keep the house just a little cooler in the beastly heat of summertime. The lacy wooden framework, while pretty, is not part of my design specs, and would not be necessary. I just need to figure out HOW to assemble the actual fan guts, and where to acquire the necessary parts/tools/supplies.

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Going to make sure that no more of my physical therapy appointments are in the middle of the day (today was at noon-fifteen) but instead early mornings. The difficulty of dealing with transit crowded with workers on the way to morning jobs, and getting up at 530 AM would be less debilitating than riding the bus in the deep heat, and either waiting for transfer in no shade, or walking 10 blocks in the same deep heat. And then doing it again an hour later in reverse. I was foolish, and forgot to take the weather into consideration, and paid for it by losing most of today once I got home again

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	pickled garlic scapes	Isabel apron dress trim	small crock pot
2	seven baprons	Drusa hat trim	cracked iron pot
3	undergown Genievieve	pruned sage	yard waste bin
4	undergown for Isabel	pruned forsythia	-
5	Norse apron dress Aesa	continued pruning apple	-
6	Aelflaed pinafore	"brooches" for Aesa	-
7	x	x	-
8	x	x	-
9	x	x	-
10	x	x	-
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

media Monday

in which our plucky heroine improves working conditions...

in the last two weeks the temperature has dropped 30 degrees, from the high 90's close to 100F, down to a high in the mid 60's. While I prefer these temperatures, I also feel like I just might crack from thermal shock. Still it is a treat to be able to pull out my beloved pinafore dresses again, and think about retiring the popovers til next summer...

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a new plywood top (on a venerable table base custom made for me by Mark Cornell decades ago) is now a standing worktable in the workroom, just as I had envisioned it. The LED light shoplight installed earlier this year will light this bench as well as my own smaller seated bench barely visible on the other side of the file cabinet.  There is still work to be done on decluttering and organising this wall of the workroom but gradually the space becomes more and more useable, both for my own handicraft and for being able to teach others

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Using the former back door table base for the standing workbench required a replacement back door bench - which we created from assorted salvaged wood, with only a few dollars needed for assembly hardware. This bench is a bit narrower in both dimensions than the former one, so there is room between the bench and the house to neatly tuck away most of the long-handle yard tools.

Lower shelf has salvaged fridge drawers to store things like garden gloves etc... I plan to add some hooks to the upper crossbar at the back, to hold things like the chicken food measure (wooden bowl visible on the lower shelf) Still need to add some rope anchor loops to keep the yard tools earthquake safe and vertical, and anchor the bench to the fence. Bit by bit, order and usefulness keep encroaching on Acorn Cottage.

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vignettes of medieval lifestyle as well as info about iron production

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	dark pelican enamel	declutter workroom	bag to Goodwill
2	tweedledee poncho	declutter workroom	bag to Goodwill
3	color wheels	standing workbench	box of wool fleece
4	charter painting	x	yard waste bin
5	Jen paisley pinafore	x	recycle paper bin
6	new back door table	x	yard waste bin
7	x	x	freezer mysteries
8	x	x	ø
9	x	x	ø
10	x	x	ø
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

a small bit of home improvement

in which our plucky heroine makes gradual improvements...

There is a small cupboard/shelf, made from an old wooden box, between the two chalkboards in the workroom, where I store the wee little assorted porcelain and glass dishes I use to hold damp enamel powders when I am enameling. As part of my ongoing efforts to at least partially earthquake proof Acorn Cottage*, this last week or so one project was to create a door, well actually sort of a "lid", to enclose this shelf when the contents were not needed.


Last weekend, Farbjorn cut a leftover piece of the MDF chalkboard to the right size to fit over the front of the cupboard, and we also cut some scrap wood to create a lip at the bottom of the cupboard to give the chalkboard scrap a place to rest. In addition, another bit of salvaged fancy molding was added to the open side of the cupboard to prevent anything from falling out the side. There is no such thing as too many chalkboards as far as I am concerned, and the decorative molding is pressed with a design of acorns and oak leaves (even though the acorns look more like turnips!)

Earlier this week, Drusa let me use her scroll saw to cut out the pieces for the door bar and brackets. I have a small stash of beechwood components salvaged from Ikea as-is, nice dimensional solid wood with a pretty grain. The fact that it is already cut into notched pieces does not preclude cleverly designing other things that work around the pre-existing cuts. I realised I could use the cut away parts, trimmed and laminated, to create brackets to hold the bar in place across the front of the cupboard lid.

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The final touch, once all the parts were sanded, assembled, and attached, was to use the woodburning tool to detail the decorative Viking raven heads, which form handles to remove and replace the wooden bar-the-door...

*  My goal is to stabilise everything in the workroom, since we live in an active earthquake zone. Shelves need "batter boards" at the very least, and my intention is to give storage areas closed doors whenever possible.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	pottery buttons	mat/frame woodblock	yard waste bin
2	soap dish	mend grey dress	paper recycle bin
3	painted bowl	taxes done	paper recycle bin
4	geometric flower holder	side wall cupboard	bag to Goodwill
5	3 enamels for E	drill press setup	bag to Goodwill
6	Darylee overdress	shelf moved/resized	yard waste bin
7	pickled beets n eggs	WIP shelves setup	paper recycle bin
8	filigree center for S	2 shoplights installed	x
9	Laurel medallion for S	surge protector up	x
10	x	door for cupboard	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x

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progress leaps ahead...

... in which our plucky heroine washes a LOT of dishes...

The amount of work that was accomplished this weekend was EPIC! My Blue Cedar House pals were here again, along with their daughter, and also my friend Sharon C (five folks make a really full house, but we are planning on adding in another two for their next visit over TurkeyDay weekend next month...) In addition, while not all the needful fabric has been acquired, there was enough to sort out and choose which would be used for the sewing worktrade. (The plan is for me to have completed enough clothes for their family to attend a weekend long SCA event by next camping season) Still need linen for several woman-sized underdresses, and probably something sturdy for a few pairs of tall man-size fighter pants...

:::

As part of my efforts to declutter and improve the small bedroom/guest room/sewing room, a shelf to hold the sewing machines for easy access and storage was planned:

the idea was to make a shelf that was sturdy enough to remain stable while holding the sewing machines... William R came up with an efficient and clever plan to use materials already on hand as leftover from former projects, and the thin plywood top is reinforced with crosspieces of one-by wood, to make the entire shelf vastly more stout and strong...

The new shelf in place, looking much like my initial idea, and at a suitable height so as to make it easy to pick up a machine for use, or to set them down again for storage. (I still need to give some thought to how to usefully anchor the machines against earthquakes, probably with some combination of hardware and rope/bungees; fabric falling from shelves is soft, machines falling from shelves likely break)

:::

Mindy worked more of her magic in the yard, and the small raised bed that Debra brought over is now neatly bookending the persimmon tree out on the parking strip, and currently filled with leaves and compost, waiting for a plan for what will live there...

In the older bed on the other side of the persimmon, the two plant babies Deb brought over here are now in the ground: borage, and "wax flower". I plan on filling the rest of this planter with garlic for the winter growing season, and covering the top with wire to make it less attractive to the neighborhood cats!

The north side yard, aka the dry season clothesdryer... Mindy moved the self-watering planters out of the fenceline, since that area gets NO sun in the wintertime, so nothing much grows along there till the year turns. Self watering planters were moved to along the fence in the back yard near the pear tree, a temporary home. These need renewed with more potting soil and compost, and some more thought given to an improved and more permanent location for them...

..

:::

For years now I have wanted a "salad table", a standing height growing bench for flats of greens. Inspired by the instructions on the UMaryland Extension site, and by the idea of separate internal trays from this site, I drew up plans that would take advantage of the stash of 2x4's and the skillful help of Bill Robertson.

Now there is a nice Sturdy Salad Table framework that fits at the end of my front porch, where it can take advantage of the wintertime light. I still need to build the internal trays/flats that will fit inside the tabletop, but those are both smaller and easier for me to make with hand tools.

:::

Am somewhat concerned that the irregularity in the tendons in my left hand seem to becoming worse instead of improving. I plumb hate it when something internal suddenly goes all cattywhompus for no apparent reason. Time for more needles I suspect, since my favorite topical anti-inflammatory is not being much help. Sadly, this means that the knitting must needs go on temporary hiatus, just when it was starting to become really delightful to play with...

:::

Tomorrow is Bill-Squared Day, being the natal day of two of my three favorite Bills...

:::

October SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	gown muslin for L	sewing machine shelf	yardwaste bin
2	*	salad table base	----------
3	*	small raised bed	----------
4	*	*	----------
5	*	*	----------
6	*	*	----------
7	*	----------	----------
8	*	----------	----------
9	*	----------	----------
10	*	----------	----------

:::

SMART September - or begin as you mean to go on...

in which our plucky heroine starts out the month with another visit from my mighty Blue Cedar House pals! Their visit involved quite a bit of actual, well, labor. And plenty of good delicious shared meals, pleasant chat, several useful visits to Mr Plywood, the farmers market across the street, Ikea, and even a side trip to 50 Licks for the best ice cream on the planet...

The carport was mostly a sad drift of dead leaves, junk, old lumber, and debris yesterday; they cleared it all out, stacked the useful bits, and removed the detritus... it is filled with potential now, ready to become an outdoor room for cooking and drying laundry under cover from the sun and rain (once the many bags of yard debris that are just out of the photo go away)


Herb triangle is weeded and mulched; the little brick walls are restacked. The lovage, thyme, and savory are quite happy. I think this might be a good spot for a small rosemary. And, apparently my rhubarb has once again entirely given up on life.  I really would like to establish a strong healthy rhubarb plant, as it is a favorite of mine. Anyone out there have success with it? I am beginning to think it needs a different richer soil, or something...

A beautiful river of mulch! The front yard of Acorn Cottage has not looked this nice ever, and not this tidy since I moved in... The happy plants have room to breathe (and maybe acquire some new friends at some point; more hardy fuschia maybe?)

Mr Robertson knows his way around a toolbox...

A new set of shelves will be added along one wall of the SCA closet - four foot long and only eight inches deep. The back and side edges will be supported by these wooden cleats.

The shelves are supported on the front edge with built up legs, and stabilised with additional 1 x 2 along the front edges

The completed shelves store various cans of housepaint, until the rooms here are all not-white. Can you tell that I am quite fond of the Metro Paint recycled house paint? The upper shelf will hold some of my SCA gear, and as (over time) there is less need for paint storage the space will be useful to store more eventing supplies and equipment in a tidy and accessible way

Not visible yet is the good beginning made on my sewing SCA clothing for the Robertson family. The muslins for the basic tunic for him, and basic gown for her, were both fitted and basted, which will allow me to create various additional garments from those patterns. I still need to cut and sew the muslin for their daughter. Now when the appropriate fabrics become available, a veritable sewing whirlwind can commence.

:::

September SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	tunic muslin for B	carport cleared	yardwaste bin
2	gown muslin for M	shelves in SCA closet	5 yardwaste bags
3	*	herb planter improved	funky red dresser
4	*	housefront plantings mulched and weeded	old baby stroller from garden shed
5	*	*	----------
6	*	*	----------
7	*	----------	----------
8	*	----------	----------
9	*	----------	----------
10	*	----------	----------
11	*	----------	----------

:::

Not every exchange needs happen in the world of commerce, sometimes we just help each other out... that is the world I want to live in, where heart and hands both are part of the equation, and friends help friends to mutual benefit. Today I am grateful for the learning in my hands and mind, the skills, that now as I slide down the path to becoming an elder, not only bring me great satisfaction, but also allow me a path to share with others in a way that brings needful assistance with things that are difficult.

may this gratitude contradict despair...

shake-n-bake, and ah halped...

Thanks to the handy and handsome G, there was not only an exceedingly pleasant amount of rest and relaxation this weekend, but a most productive amount of repair happened as well, involving some of my favorite kinds of shopping, at places like Mr Plywood...

Here is a tune, just to get in the right mood...

This is what the east and southeast corners of the workroom ceiling have looked like for the last several years...

First, we added some additional bits of my favorite mylar bubblepack to fill in the larger holes...

Before adding the larger plywood patch, there was a chance to add a bit of decorative detail to part of the repair...

We were able to use a great deal of salvaged lumber for the various support framework and ledger boards.


Eventually, when the weather is warmer, I shall probably paint it all white, so as to help it blend in better visually, but for now, 'tis a good and wonderful thing to not have the cold November wind whistling through the workroom!

from this ...

to this ...

Feeling right clever about putting the dryer up on a pallet mounted with casters, made it really easy to move it out of the way for the ceiling repair to happen. Behind the washer and dryer is one of the original wooden structural walls of Acorn Cottage; my intention is to put storage shelving up on the side nearest the doorway, carefully allowing for safe access (if needs be) to the wiring that snakes across that side of the wall. There's a salvaged old multi-paned window tucked away in the workroom, that will have the glass replaced with mirror, and get mounted on the wall above the dryer, to help bounce more light into that dark-ish corner of the room, but that is another project for another day, in a warmer time of year...

≈ : ♥ : ≈

/^-.-^\___}}
dog is on watch,
there is danger at the door