Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine begins to hide from the haze...

When growing up, there were the classic four seasons to the year: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Now there are at least five as fire season intertwines with summer and autumn, and I sorrow at the change*... This morning after an early bike ride, went out to run errands knowing this was in the offing. By 2pm on the way home the air was becoming visibly hazy. After leaving the bus to walk the rest of the way home took off my mask, smelled how strong the smoke had become, and immediately put it back on. Our AQI is already at 114 right now (Unhealthy) and forecast to be over 200 (Very Unhealthy) later tonight and tomorrow and to then slowly decrease back to merely Unhealthy again over the next several days. Both indoor air filters will be deployed and no more outdoor activity at all until a necessary medical appointment later in the week, this will be an opportunity to focus on indoor housey chores.

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~ incremental improvement ~

One of the two new small storage shelves is in place on the kitchen wall next to the chest freezer, sized just right for 5 "talenti tubs**". When I defrost the freezer later this month, shelf number two will go underneath this one, and have room for another five. My plan is to use these to hold dry goods like grain, pasta, and lentils etc, move the larger storage jars currently on my countertop into the pantry instead, which will free up counter space in the very small kitchen.

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Saturday at the Hollywood farmers market in search of local cilantro, it was a surprise and a treat to run into my old friend SueJ, who I'd not seen in almost ten years. After that unexpected visiting, I did manage to find cilantro, and cucumbers, and some beautiful Japanese eggplants. The plan is to make some 5 flavor eggplant, and preserve most of the cilantro not used immediately, using this suggestion about freezing it in cubes with oil.

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This idea of turning googly eyes into miniature drawer pulls seems quite clever, and there might be a few of those googly eyes left from last years Advent Swap. Hmmm...

Another tiny-ish treat is the creativity of Liza of HodgePodge Art Studio. Her world building and storytelling  about Mosshollow is delightful. While much of it is shared on Meta platforms, there is some here on YouTube.

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 Talenti shelves	Talenti shelf up	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- I have two good air filters
- quite a few Talenti tubs
- making some progress every day
- local produce at the farmers market

Time of Isolation - Day 2211

* I realise that Acorn Cottage currently is quite privileged to only have to deal with windblown smoke when so many locally and worldwide are dealing more directly with fire season, having lost homes, land, livestock and in some cases their own lives. This is not the timeline I signed up for...

** "Talenti tubs" are the very useful sturdy plastic containers with screw top lids that Talenti ice cream originally was packaged in. The current containers are somewhat less sturdy, and ice cream doesn't often make it onto the grocery list any more.

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

a colloquia of corbies

in which our plucky heroine slept better than expected...

The holiday explosions started before it was even full dark, but it seemed less dense than last year? The windows, which are usually kept narrowly open for fresh air were all shut tight last night. The rarely used white noise app helped partially mute the thumps and bangs. Turned that off sometime in the wee small hours as it was no longer needed. The closed windows also allowed me to sleep until not tired; hungry corbies were still there when I woke up at around 8, quite a few gathered in the lilac, and on the garage roof next door! 

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~ cats invade the garden for catnip ~
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One project started this weekend has been to begin converting all of  Kestrel's very delightful "Cats Invade" drawings to a format suitable for making tiny books for the tinyfolk that live at her house and also here at Acorn Cottage. I plumb adore the whole series of pictures, of which these are the first two...

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One of the early garden addition here was a little Nandina domestica, (now almost 7 ft tall); a shrub I loved as a child, and tinyfolk Nandina Ogidni's namesake. I nowadays remove the berries that form, as they can be toxic to birds and mammals, but apparently the flowers are very attractive to bees... Today, despite the lack of a breeze, I noticed quite a bit of foliage movement, and there were many bees of several different species  going from flower to flower.

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The 5 gallon bucket of beads is now slightly less disorganised, as I took part of today to sort through it organising beads by color. Mostly the beads that were already in hanks or bags of one color, if randomly distributed. There still remain several large ziplocs full of assorted mixtures, individual beads, trinkets, and artifacts, but now specific colorways are much more accessible. Also it is curious that there seems to be an overlap between taupe, purple, and grey, which I suspect has to do with the chemistry of creating glass colors. 

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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	-	replace C O alarm	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- did not wake up at 5 AM from hungry noisy corbies
- Maeva sent me more Kestrel drawings today
- internal collywobbles seem to have dissipated
- Nandina flowers attract bees

Time of Isolation - Day 2184

an interesting revelation

in which our plucky heroine has a new thought...

For many years, while I never doubted that I am a maker-of-things, indeed I apparently arrived with that characteristic, it never felt like I was an artist. I spent the philosophical aspect of my higher education learning about and thinking about why our culture chooses to draw a line between art and craft, the delineation began in the Renaissance. I don't identify as an artist, my self declared occupation on my tax forms is "artisan". To my mind and in my experience with other makers of things, "artists" are folks who make their art form irregardless of input or payment from others. And there is all the cultural baggage about what kinds of making are "art", which even if we don't agree with it, still permeates our lives, and the commentary from adults when we are children. I remember being told in reference to my creative endeavors as a teen and young adult "that is all well and good for a hobby, but you (will) need to major in something for a real job when you aren't in school. 

Our plucky heroine went on to have enough varied peculiar jobs to have an appropriate resume for a back of the novel blurb, should I have turned out to be a writer of words rather than a manipulator of stuff. None of those things was a career, a real job, though I have been a working taxpayer since I was fifteen. Since 1993 I have been making SCA regalia, using my enameling and metalworking skills. And while I am fairly competent at what I do, I rarely ever spend my non-work time in that genre, unlike the metalwork "gods" I have been fortunate enough to meet or know as friends. This disconnect is part of what manifests in my mind as imposter syndrome, my not having the behavior like the other artists I know. 

Whereas there is always part of my brain that is designing, not jewelry, not regalia, but my personal clothing. When talking about my dissatisfaction with Karen last week, I came up with the idea: "Making jewelry and regalia is my day job; creating whimsical unique garments is my art form."  This counterchange of how I think about what I spend my time doing may be a solution to a mental and emotional challenge that has caused me pain for decades.

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~ what a mess ~

Yesterday, when it became apparent my workshop wheelie chair(s) weren't rolling as well as formerly, it turned out that over the years the chair casters have been collecting random frelch, mostly snippets of thread that end up on the floor while sewing occurrs! This is not acceptable, and obviously my ongoing attempts to send bits and pieces into the large workshop wastebasket are ineffective. 

What to do, what to do? Aha! One of my favorite designers, Ann Wood, has a pattern tutorial for making "stitched vessels", little containers made from precious (or not so precious) scraps of fabric. I already bought this pattern last year, it is currently residing in my folder of assorted future/someday projects, and I've intended to do something about the growing pile of garment sewing cabbage*. A pair of smallish containers to be placed right next to the sewing machine and the serger will be next up on my handwork list, though for now some small teacups will have to suffice. 

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Finished up the stripey pinafore that is intended to be overdyed chocolate brown/black instead of off-white/black. Very pleased with the various width black linen bias edge binding and overlay. I used a second strip of bias to cover the places along the bottom edge of the skirt gores where it had been necessary to piece the fabric, and once I completed that, it reminds me very much of some Elizabethan skirt decoration.

My overdyeing turned out to be not quite as successful as hoped for. Apparently Procion MX #119 "Chocolate Brown" can be just a bit tricksy. The resulting color reads more like a dark grey than any sort of chocolate. It isn't perzactly brown at all, nor black, nor grey, but one of those betwixt-colors that I love but cannot name. And, since I didn't actually strain the dye (not having a suitable strainer) there are a few fairly subtle splotches here and there where the magenta in the dye mixture left speckles. Thankfully not alarmingly vivid given the overall darkcolor, but I notice them, sigh and alas. Once the pinafore is dry, it will get a careful looksee, (note from next morning, the magenta is in fact difficult to see if one isn't looking for it) and hopefully it will be friends with the rest of my wardrobe, despite being a peculiar dark rather than the hoped for chocolate brown.

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adorable Totoro ongiri bento

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Although Parkrose Hardware was having a 50% off sale, my plan to get over there and buy some Gamma lids ran headlong into the reality of spending multiple hours getting there and back. It is over an hour and a half each way on transit, with three transfers. Plus their full price is significantly higher than full price at TAP Plastics, so even the large discount turned out to be a little over $2 per lid. So, instead, time for a bit more housey chores to get done this weekend

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	accordion pouch	tiny beaded star	greenwaste bin
3	bone acorn earrings	electric bill found	recycle bin
4	stripey pinafore	shirt sleeve length	-
5	-	tax papers	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- my friend Claire is on vigil for the Order of the Laurel
- new stripey pinafore pleases me despite not being brown
- vocation avocation revelation

Time of Isolation - Day 2110

* "cabbage" is a collective noun for fabric scraps... 
some historical context in this post

short but very sweet

in which our plucky heroine is delighted...

Most of my Mud Bay pals were headed south this week so Kestrel could visit her great grandmama, and they stopped off briefly on their two day trip south for a bit of a porch visit/drive-by hugging from three of my favorite humans on the planet. Took some time to walk around the yard, stretch their legs, and eat some snacks. I got to meet Leche, their new dog. I love all of them so much (as well as Maeva who was staying home to mind the garden and the chickens) and hope that someday visiting with them in person will be possible again.

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~ proto-pears ~

In January of 2025 I planted the Bosc pear tree in the front yard that was my response to the Urban Forestry permit requirement for replacing the ornamental plum tree removed in 2024 While I suspect it isn't large enough yet to really support fruiting, it has done well enough to open a singular cluster of flowers this year!  The Shipova and the Seckel seem to be doing well but of course are about half that size. With luck, there will be some of my favorite tree fruit in a few years, though I expect to have to baby them and hand water every summer for quite few years to come, particularly given how hot it already is and that the forecast is for a dreadful El Niño season...

Bosc pear planted in 2025
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The disorder in the house is getting to the point where it is interfering with my ability to function. My thought is that once my taxes for the year are done (in the next ten days) I will then take at least the next six weeks or more and focus time every day on creating more order from the current chaos. If I focus each week on one aspect or room, it should make a big difference, and maybe allow me a chance to get some of the refurbishment projects underway as well. I am going to go ahead and order the window awnings that have been on my wishlist for years now; aluminum is only going to get more and more spendy, and while the prices are a lot higher than last year,  it is not yet in the "unobtanium" category, and shading the east and west windows will make a big difference in the summertime .

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Brenda Dayne has connected all her past catalog to her current Substack site. This means that I have a lot of audio content I can enjoy (again). Cast On was one of the first podcasts I ever ran across, and despite looking, I have yet to find any that I like anywhere near as much. Her voice, selection of music, and mixture of content just feeds something in me that nothing else does. I wish I could articulate what about Cast On makes it just right.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	-	tiny beaded star	greenwaste bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Beloved friends Bill, Jen, and Kestrel stopping by on their trip south
- meeting Leche the dog, large and quiet
- "Cast On" with Brenda Dayne

Time of Isolation - Day 2097

it's log...

in which our plucky heroine knows all good things must end...

at least for the moment. My visitors had to pack up to go home in the middle of the day, and return to their everyday life. It was lovely having guests, particularly my dear friends with whom I've been sharing a story for so many decades now.

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~ day 19 ~

This "stump" is about hip height on me, and 12" in diameter. It was a kind and thoughtful gift from my dear friend and former studio colleague Bill, who knew I'd always wanted one ever since I moved away and set up my own workspace.

Why a stump? It is an alternate work surface for tasks that are improved with a stable high-mass non-resilient surface, (for example, stamping designs or using drive punches on leather or metal. A bouncy surface like an ordinary table, makes such tasks a lot harder...

 
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Given how long it took to clear out the space to (temporarily) store Ikea BEKVAM, and how long it took to tidy my workbench, it may realistically take me a month or more per room for sorting, tidying and decluttering, since I am unlikely to be able to allocate anything like whole days at a time. This is Useful Information, and I can use pixel-world body-double time to help me continue progress.

BEKVAM, a wooden Ikea kitchen cart with shelves, is a gift from B&K to be used in my future/someday kitchen reconstruction, that for now, is living in the corner of my living room. At some point it will need it's tabletop cut narrower, and the legs fitted with proper full rotational casters, but for now, it will be useful out of the way storage, in a former clutter haven. 

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~ a vast improvement ~
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before and after

The other declutter/tidy task I really wanted to work on while I had in person companionship was returning my workbench to an orderly state of being. It seems as if it shouldn't take that long, since the surface area is fairly small, but it was several hours in before the results in the "after" photo. This is not only much more appealing and functional as a work space, but my friends also had several useful suggestions for additional/alternate storage for some of my tools. I now have clear decks to begin some work that needs doing, and a few simple changes to implement next.

I'm going to make some storage "pockets" for my metalworking files and rasps that can hang on the wall next to the workbench, add a small pinboard or bulletin board to the back of the workbench for notes about current project(s), and turn the vintage sewing machine drawers I bought years ago into a kind of narrow-but-tall rolling tool chest.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	calendar master pages	new bin for  cedar shakes	orangeflower water
3	5+ jars fig mostarda	drawstring cords	large broken bin
4	page 2 resipei	workbench tidy	2 bags paper
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes - 
- my workbench restored to tidy pleasant useability makes me want to go do some metalwork and enameling, which I have been avoiding for ages
- I might be able to use BEKVAM's lower shelves as temporary canned goods storage space, which would clear counter spaces in the kitchen! 
- listening to various tributes to Bob Weir and his legacy
- several chances over the last few days to walk around the neighborhood with company of Beth and Karen; I miss being able to walk with friends, as most of my most local pals have moved away...

Time of Isolation - Day 2030

appealing rather than appalling

in which our plucky heroine is almost ready...

My first intention of the day was to steadily if intermittently make progress on getting the guest futon suitable for hosting guest(s) ... considering how untidy that room started out, my goal was to clear space on both sides of the bed as well as the multitude of textile scraps, yardage, cardboard, and yarn from the surface. Now with fresh bedding, and space to move around the room, it looks appealing rather than appalling!

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~ day 15 ~

This lovely handmade ceramic pitcher was a gift from Achaxe quite a few years ago. It is sturdy and well balanced, and I use it as a flower vase. The glaze is darkest inside, a blue almost black. The exterior is mostly varying colors of indigo blue, with the carved leaves at the base being mostly shades of greyish neutrals.

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I've tried making a new to me condiment "Fig Mostarda", using the frozen figs harvested last year from the trees in the front yard. It is sweet and savory, a little sour and a little spicy. I think it will be very nice with goat cheese (or riblets, if ever they were available), or other rich and savory things. I did add an extra glug of vinegar, and about another ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne, as it seemed to want more intensity to balance the sweetness.

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Some strange bird flew into my porch, and was roosting on the back of the chair. I wonder if it could have been some small raptor as it was bigger than a songbird, more the size of but definitely not a corvid. As soon as I opened the curtain it flew away, faster than I could get any identifying data other than "mid size bird, sitting upright, variegated coloring"... looking up raptors found in Oregon, it may have been a Coopers or a Sharp Shinned Hawk??

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	calendar master pages	new bin for  cedar shakes	orangeflower water
3	5+ jars fig mostarda	-	large broken bin
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- tidied and decluttered the futon bed, with most of the stuff getting put back on shelves or into boxes, and a good two grocery sacks to discard. Now it looks a lot nicer in there
- Fig Mostarda, a new to me condiment, that is going into the keeper recipe book. I actually like it better than the fig/lemon marmalade I was going to make.
- mysterious bird visitation to the front porch, possibly a raptor

Time of Isolation - Day 2027

workaday Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine is determined...

...to prepare for an actual, rare, timebound occasion of weekend guests, today has been full of getting-things-done.

After morning medications and stepping outside for daylight on eyeballs time, but before breakfast, it occurred to me that one side benefit of condensing sewing and fabric clutter would be to free up a half height rubbermaid tote. This would allow me to shift the precious spare cedar shakes into a more appropriate size container and to discard the partially shattered much too large one currently in use. Which I promptly did. Good thing tomorrow is trash-out day, as now the garbage wheelie bin is completely full.

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~ several days of drawings ~

day 12 - this pair of classic stork "embroidery scissors" were a gift to me when I was still a schoolgirl. They are stamped ITALY inside the body. Later, when I was in my twenties and working at the leather shop, I made them a little case of tooled calfskin, with a sunrise and lotus flower on one side, and a design of a sitting cat on the reverse. With all the objects that have been lost over the years, these have been with me for more than half a century!

day 13 - Apparently snips and their cases are a favorite of mine. These are little Chinese snips, very similar in style to ancient medieval and viking age scissors. I formerly bought these by the dozen, stitched up little leather sheaths for them, and sold them. Still have one or two left from those days, and they are handy to carry around in my daypack with my embroidery, or to keep at the desk, or next to the sewing machine to snip threads

day 14 - This is a very cleverly designed ratcheting screw driver. It has been in my tool collection for years, and is my favorite full size screw driver, but I've no memory of when I first acquired it. The little flower shaped part where the handle joins the shaft rotates, allowing access to three interior compartments one at a time, that are sized just right to hold the assorted tips. The fourth lobe is the forward/reverse toggle. It will be interesting to see what proportion of my Objects of Affection are tools...

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Last night I started making the candied orange peel I promised Mischa. It is a slow process, but not difficult. Several repeated blanching of the peel, then simmer in simple syrup until the peels are saturated. Then, depending on desired results, one can immediately use them, or roll in granulated sugar and dry them further, or even go on to dip in chocolate for a special confection.

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I know I've mentioned WAWAK previously, as I am one of the myriads of sewing enthusiasts (or professionals) who depend on their excellent catalog of supplies, extremely reasonable prices and wonderfully fast shipping. I placed an order on Monday that arrived here this afternoon. This at their regular flat rate shipping, not any sort of special speedy spendy rate. I now have the right color zippers for the next sewing commission, as well as several packets of sewing machine needles, a few spools of thread, and spool of 2" elastic for long jane waistbands. Figured that since I needed to order the zipper(s) might as well go ahead and add in various items that had been running low.

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I have been having all sorts of problems with video chat in the last several weeks. Today, Zoom which is so erratic and dreadful on the laptop,worked without any difficulty on my mobile phone?!! This was a big relief, and also suggests where the difficulty may be. Perhaps one of the various "updates" caused issues? Maybe one of the too many apps? I am wondering about doing a total reset on my laptop?? Also Norton keeps telling me I have too much junk, maybe laptop needs some kind of declutter? I miss the old "defrag" from earlier versions of Windows

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	calendar master pages	new bin for  cedar shakes	orangeflower water
3	-	-	large broken bin
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- zoom seemed to work without difficulty on my mobile phone?! 
- the newly emptied half height tote was just the right size for holding the cedar shakes.
- remembered to begin the candied orange peel for Mischa
- the wonder that is WAWAK, speedy shipping, very good quality supplies, and more than reasonable prices. In these enshittified times, it is a treat to remember and experience again the best of how it used to be...

Time of Isolation - Day 2026

wishful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine has lots of wishes...

most of all that this was not the timeline we were in, or as it has been said "where am I going and why am I in this handbasket"...

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Just figured out that instead of the kitchen timer, I can use "work through the next x-number-of-songs in the set" as my way of keeping self on task! I've been listening to recordings of Grateful Dead concerts via Internet Archive, and they have notated how long each song runs in that particular recording. The Internet Archive (also home of the Wayback Machine) has all sorts of very interesting things to listen to; Dead shows make up only a tiny fragment of their audio collection.

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~ day seven ~

This is my stainless steel chain mail pot scrubber, that moonlights as a paintbrush drying clamp (or is it the other way around)... It normally hangs from one of the drying hooks over my kitchen sink, and one day it occurred to me that I could weave the handle of my just washed paintbrush through the gaps in the mail, and the brush could hang there point down until dry, which is the best way to keep brushes in good condition.  This was a  Useful Gift from Britta's husband Karl, from back when he was making chain mail, and I was renting their spare room. Boy howdy is this thing difficult to draw! I tried to give a sort of impression of the way the links catch the light. Makes me really appreciate the skill that goes into scientific and archaeological drawings. 

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Today I cleaned up under the pantry shelves, where yesterday a bottle of orangeflower water fell from an upper shelf to the concrete floor and shattered. The little vacuum did most of the work, fortunately most of the broken glass landed on some cardboard, and at least the broken jar contained something that had a pleasant, though in this concentration rather intense, scent.

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To balance between what is happening in this country and the bandwidth to continue daily life; we need both to dig in our heels and stop the slide towards fascism and be the sand in their gears, and find what joy exists and build whatever better world for all beings that may still be possible within the ashes of the current debacle.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	-	-	orangeflower water
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Just figured out that instead of the kitchen timer, I can use "work through the next x-number-of-songs in the set" as my way of keeping self on task!
- began a massive declutter project
- the Internet Archive

Time of Isolation - Day 2019

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine attempts to plan her day...

It is really raining hard, and forecast for all day and at least two inches of precipitation, so outdoor time isn't really going to be a thing. Let's try something different, and start off the day with an assortment of intentions, and see if that helps, and how many can be checked off the list before bedtime:
☑ excess (indoor) cardboard boxes into wheelie bin
☑ put up 4 oz jars of diced quince (that cooked overnight)
☐ add waistband to flower undies
☐ pack up cotton lycra (to clear sewing table)
☑ wash dishes
☑ cook: kale bulgur salad, chicken soup,roast carrots
☑ 15 min resipei embroidery
⇓ vacuum living room and put vacuum away
☐ make bed

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~ take small stitches ~

This slow beginning of the "resipei" embroidery project continues to please me very much, both in the doing, and in the resulting linear quality of the chain stitches...

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As I was craving some movement yesterday evening, went out for a bit of a neighborhood walk. Stopped by the drug store while out and about, and brought home a pack of 100 ordinary index cards for the hundred day "Objects of my Affection" drawing challenge that starts in two weeks. My intention is that by making it "not precious" it will remove that particular mental barrier. I figure I can use any sort of not-paint mark making tools, but will probably just use my regular EDC 0.9 SumoGrip mechanical pencils.

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This evening I noticed that the amaryllis on the windowsill has finally showed signs of life, there are leaf tips emerging from the center of the bulb. It probably took all that time to generate some roots, since it had none obvious when it first arrived here... It will be exciting if it actually grows a flower stalk and blooms!

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There are only three more partially baked quince in the produce drawer in the fridge, probably enough for another batch of quince sauce. Today's batch, cooling on the card table, became 9½ 4oz jars of quince rosewater sauce, suitable to complement something savory (like cranberry sauce does), or as an ingredient in a sweet dessert of some sort.

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 pairs underwear	vegetable steamer legs	fridge science experiments
2	knitted shrew	shrew eyes	yard waste bin
3	1 pair undies	Gamma bucket lid	recycle bin
4	2 alphabeast  drawings	one page of the embroidery transfer	recycle bin
5	-	daypack mended	recycle bin
6	x	cleaned keyboard	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the scent of quince, while ripening, or while cooking...
- Cathy shared both a short Kestrel video and 8 pages of another story the kiddo wrote, about cats, that had me literally LOL
- while hunting excess cardboard boxes tonight, found the lost knitting stitch markers, and the miniature embroidery I did several years ago to begin a decorated tiny armchair like the one I made for Ånni!

Time of Isolation - Day 2000

wistful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine thinks forwards and backwards...

and feels a bit overwhelmed by memories of various prior harvest holidays, when the biggest challenge was getting the turkey thawed, or finding enough spots for overnight guests to sleep... I don't expect to live to see those kind of celebrations come again, but remain grateful that they did happen and that I have them to look back on...

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Yesterday afternoon while chatting with Karen there was much thinking about how to store my pantry items, and various ideas about kitchen reorganizing. One new idea is to remove most of the random contents of the hall closet and use that space for the backstock food, canned preserves, and assorted dry goods currently overflowing the small pantry shelves. That closet would need the righthand side reconfigured, as that half was set up as a coat closet by Former Owners, but it would be much more useful for food storage than just for storing replacement furnace filters and leftover bubble wrap!

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~ so many! ~

The small blue folding table, occasionally used when organising kitchen tasks, is currently entirely covered in not yet ripe persimmons. This makes working in my tiny crowded kitchen even more challenging. Once they are a bit further along they can be sliced and put into the food dehydrator, to become tasty dried fruit that several friends get every year as a holiday gift.

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Two bits of minor mending happened recently: the detached foot of the air filter unit was glued back on with RTV silicone, a most handy adhesive... and my reverse applique horse kerchief had some simple (additional) embroidery done to make the horse legs more visible, ditto mane and tail, which has greatly improved it.

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The Juliet tomato is done for the year. There were a few remaining partially ripe ones still on the plant, but  they had also split open due to excess water pressure from the recent rain. Nonetheless, that was a valiant plant, as any homegrown tomatoes in this late in the year is a truly amazing feat!  

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Seems like a doable goal to clear everything off the dining table, and begin to sort papers into recycle or keep, and to put anything else currently in residence there back where it belongs. It would be a treat to sit down to my "festive" meal with a pretty table setting, with maybe some of the hardy fuschia flowers in a little vase, rather than perching my dinner on the edge of the table after having pushed aside the detritus. So far an entire grocery sack of papers have been put into the wheelie bin for recycling, and there is a tiny handful of papers to put in the filing cabinet.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief dots	greenwaste bin
2	5 jars pickled beets	more chopshop repair	recycle bin
3	1# hand weights	printer connection	greenwaste bin
4	a dozen owls	black knit slip	recycle bin
5	many jars of Awesome Sauce	15 origami giftwrap	-
6	24 more owls	case for phone	x
7	7 jars of Awesome Sauce	horse kerchief details	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the hardware store agreed that the canning jars were faulty, and refunded my charge card the purchase price, despite my not having a reciept.
- There was a less expensive model of electric toothbrush at the drugstore, that uses actual rechargeable batteries instead of needing to sit on a charger overnight. Since my current toothbrush handle is disintegrating and can't be repaired, finding one that doesn't need plugged in every night is an additional plus, since it will open up one of the limited number of outlets, and save space on the already very overcrowded countertops. And the handle is thankfully almost all hard plastic, not the "soft plastic" that is prone to sudden disintegration.
- the grocery clerk kindly opened one of the large packages of brussel sprouts so I could purchase just a few, a more appropriate amount for both my tiny fridge, and for my festive dinner side dish tomorrow (probably to be oven roasted with lemon/butter/capers)

Time of Isolation - Day 1979

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine purposefully focuses on what is positive...

As it had cooled off a bit before sundown, a bike ride along the edge of the bluff seemed like a pleasant idea. High clouds were patterned like the fur of a mackerel tabby cat, which according to the internet precedes a change in the weather, and the forecast for the weekend is dreadfully hot once again. We shall have to see, but tonights bike ride at dusk was just delightful

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~ a beautiful windfall ~

The great benefit of thinning apples on the tree is that with fewer apples total, the resources available allow individual apples to grow larger. There will be more quince apple sauce in a few days

※※※

making gradual progress on clearing the dining table of detritus and random papers... the box of sewing patterns returned to the sewing shelves, and the 8 page tutorial on sleeve plackets I'd printed out has been carefully placed in sheet protectors, which I cleverly in the past had bought a whole carton of, and stored with the printer paper. (that tutorial still needs the photo images to be redrawn or detailed, as the quality of the printing isn't as clear as would be desirable)

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that was baffling: while out riding my bike, saw a sign on a large fig tree for "free figs" but the whole tree only had (many many) unripe small second crop figs, nowhere near ready to eat. Indeed second crop figs almost never ripen here, and don't easily detach from the branches either.

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The podcast interview with T Kingfisher aka Ursula Vernon is now available online, and I look forward to listening to it soon! 

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	4 jar storage trays	tiger block	greenwaste bin
2	4 jar storage lids	bright rayon top width	recycle bin
3	dried basil	indigotiger popover  hem extension	recycle bin
4	3 jars apple/quince rosewater sauce	bike rear wheel	window AC
5	-	new apron straps	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- two beautiful windfall apples
- Past Me cleverly bought a box of 100 sheet protectors
- completed the second of four admin tasks (for this week)

Time of Isolation - Day 1856

Generosity glimmers

in which our plucky heroine has a sort of slow day...

...which is not a bad thing. Some tasks got finished, some were begun, and some had progress occur. And there were gifts.

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~ more mulch ~

Last night I put down several layers of cardboard between and around the young pear trees. This morning I realised that there needed to be enough room around their trunks for watering to directly access the ground underneath, so I cut away some of the cardboard closest to the trunk(s). 

Then it was on to donkey work, filling a bucket with wood chips from the pile in the driveway and moving it to the tree zone over and over again. I lost count "one, two, three, many..." but now there is a hefty layer of mulch (carefully not piled against the tree trunks) spread over the dampened cardboard, all to help the trees survive their first summer in the ground. 

I am exhausted, but hope that a shower and some breakfast will revive me. I need to do this all over again for the new persimmon in the back yard, though that is only the one tree, so the mulch zone will be smaller. This chore also has the benefit of removing some of the mulch from the actual driveway, and some of the Big Cardboard from the carport and putting it to the use for which it was acquired. I guess it could be seen as decluttering?

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Currently refurbishing my Eames long sleeve knit top... after I added a turtleneck collar, but used a fabric too flimsy for that task, I have been adding in a second layer of slightly more robust cotton lycra. That has had the desired effect of making the collar stand up around my neck, for pleasantly cozy wintertime warmth. I'll add a layer of extra of the same fabric around the sleeve cuffs, since that is always where the knit fabric wears out first, and will make the different colored collar look purposeful.

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Much to my surprise, Sister ordered and sent me a package of (what was purportedly) "French Linden Flower Tea", having noticed my comment on how amazing linden flower scent is. The 3 oz packet from Amazon held what appeared to be mostly crushed leaves, perhaps some amount of flowers, and had absolutely no scent at all; that even when I followed the back of the bag instructions, it made a rather mildly vegetal tea. The best part of the gift was her seeking such an uncommon comestible to send me.

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I mentioned on Madrone Tribe server about the maker space options at the soon to be open new library, and how I was hoping to learn about 3D printing, because there was a pattern I saw online that I wanted to find out how to make... Eva pointed out that Sam has such a printer, and could likely print it for me. Today they sent me a photo of the Very Tiny Trinket Shelf and it is so small and so kawaii... (I still want to learn things from the library, too, because no Useful Learning is ever wasted)

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Raven scroll	6 prs Beth pants	recycle bin
2	-	prune² Wanda plum	greenwaste bin
3	-	mulch peartrees	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- my Crafternoon pals today: Elizabeth, Elanor, Helga, and Brooke
- little free libraries, a source of random treats
- I have learned to eat sauerkraut without shuddering

Time of Isolation - Day 1812

savory Saturday

in which our plucky heroine continues slow but steady improvement...

In the interest of making good use of the foodstuff on hand, have been gradually cooking up various items and turning them into either immediate meals, or into prepped meals or ingredients in the freezer. One of the larger of the mutual aid squash was baked last week, but not quite as delectable as I had imagined - turns out it only needed to be more fully cooked! I steamed the chunks for another half hour or more, until they could be mashed really well, and divided the puree into silicone freezer cubes, save my lunch portion, which I drizzled with some of the quince syrup! So yummo!!

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~ venerable stork scissors ~

I'm not sure how young I was when I was gifted these little embroidery scissors, but was still living at home with my parents... I am guessing maybe 14 or 15? In my early 20's when I was working at the leather shop in Harvard Square, I made them this small decorated case of calfskin skiver, and it has kept them safe and sound all these decades. Perhaps at some point I shall pass them on to one of my youngest friends, if they remain interested in handcrafts...

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Wednesday night placed an order online for two Bigg Grip bucket handles, and a garden kneeler from Lee Valley. Today (Saturday) there was a large box on my front porch. Cannot fault their speedy service, color me impressed!! I was already impressed with the very helpful interaction I had with online text customer service person Christopher, who did their best to answer my questions, and even emailed me afterwards with more information that might be useful. I need to remember to write to Lee Valley to commend the good help I received.

The aftermarket bucket handles seem excellent, easy to apply to the wire bail, and while robust, are not too large for my wee paws. The garden kneeler/seat is a good size, is easy to fold and unfold, and will work well for seated tasks. For kneeling tasks some additional padding for tender knees will be good.

※※※

Currently thinking about if I want my next block print to be just black and white counterchanged, or if I want to add color

※※※

The package from Lee Valley was packed so thoroughly padded with brown paper that I have probably more than enough for multiple paper mache projects... cardboard taped into shapes and covered with layers of brown paper and glue makes sturdy containers and shelves. I have been wishing for some small dividers/shelves to organise my kitchen storage containers, not finding something of a suitable size online, and don't have the right sort of thin but sturdy lumber to make something out of wood. But I do have cardboard, and now plenty of midweight brown paper, and glue... 

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February SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	"wing it" vest	more broach handles	recycle bin
2	tiny valentines	black keyboard covers	recycle bin
3	heartfelt ornament	turtleneck collar	-
4	-	laptop drivers	-
5	-	rainbow fibulae	-
6	x	bucket handle	-
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. vanilla rose quince syrup - so red, so fragrant, so delicious drizzled over some Greek yogurt, or stirred into mashed winter squash
2. Lee Valley is an excellent business, and a source of Very Useful tools and supplies, with thoughtful customer service people to answer queries. 12 out of 10, highly recommended.
3. Lots of medium-weight brown paper

Time of Isolation - Day 1681

progress here is always incremental

in which our plucky heroine perseveres...

One of the things I did today was to transfer my rudimentary measurements of the front and back yard here at Acorn Cottage onto graph paper. (once I figured out that one of the composition books had quad-rule instead of wide-rule, since the actual pads of graph paper have gone walkabout) If nothing else so far, it makes it apparent the difference in size between the front and back yard!

My goal is to begin to think more clearly about how best to use and care for the outdoor spaces here. There are some things I really really like (my assorted fruit trees) and other things that could be very much improved. (less lawn, more mulch, more food growing, better laundry drying.. and someday, if it is ever possible to do it safely again, backyard hens, sigh)

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~ be free, little hearts... ~

The second layer of spun cotton applied to the hearts today, and once that was dry, they were cut away from the remaining armature. Then more cotton applied to the cut surface; the pins are to provide a bit of a handhold while continuing to work on them. Am using some of the 100% cotton balls originally from the dollar store, which once unrolled can be torn into small bits of fiber that work really well for this process. Next step, paint!

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Somehow I misplaced a whole folder of computer bookmarks yesterday?!? Not sure how, didn't know that was possible. Surely did not simply delete them, but since I have a very cluttered bookmark section, it will take some time to find them. Fortunately it was a folder of "shopping suggestions" so not at the moment mission critical. Time to declutter online...

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Rather than purchasing various pipes and tools etc to dislodge the current squirrel nest, it has occurred to me that using some multiple worm gear clamps to attach long sticks together to created a very extended pokey-tool would probably work just fine. All that would be needed were six or eight clamps, I already have many long sticks of bamboo and other possible things (pole pruner, fruit picker, etc). Time for a trip to the hardware store, after looking over the stick stock and figuring out what size clamps will work best. 

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February SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	"wing it" vest	more broach handles	recycle bin
2	tiny valentines	black keyboard covers	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	-
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes  -
1. Dinner was excellent, and tomorrow will be even better, as meatloaf is always better on the second day. (I'm planning on making Smitten Kitchen's Lemon Potatoes, and some more yamitsuki cabbage to go with)
2. figured out a probable way to create extra long pokey-tools using worm gear clamps
3. tiny spun cotton hearts are looking good so far

Time of Isolation - Day 1669