Sunday snippets

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

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

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

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

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~ sharing is caring ~

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

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

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

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

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

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

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

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

Time of Isolation - Day 2196

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine reconfigures a recipe...

Earlier this week, in Ann Wood's newsletter, there was a link to a recipe for a sort of asian inspired carrot and cucumber slaw with chickpeas, and it sounded tasty. My first attempt was rather too improvisational, and turned out unbalanced, with an overabundance of cilantro and garlic, and nowhere near enough cucumber. It was obviously user error on my part, so in hope of a better outcome, a quick ride to the store before the thunderstorm arrived for more ingredients was in order. This version was much improved. Following the proportions of the recipe but scaled down for a single dinner serving. Slice the cucumbers thin instead of grating them. Substitute some green onion tops for raw red onion. Skip adding raw garlic to the dressing at all. Slice up some of the fermented daikon pickle and add to the vegetables. This is a winner, and deserves to be added to the recipe file. The pink daikon ferment has turned out to be something I like very much, and that too will be added to the files and made again.

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~ it's not easy being green ~

...especially if you are this small! Today our plucky heroine learned how to make wee beaded amphibians. In keeping with my intention to use what is on hand, the bucket-o-beads yielded some suitably green seed beads, and the remains of a spool of 28ga brass wire that is probably at least 40 or more years old. Still good. The tutorial for these showed up on social media and my immediate thought was that they would be an ideal Advent Swap treat, as they are about an inch long. There isn't enough wire to make a set of 31 froglettes, but the internets tell me that the local hardware stores will be a good source. Already checked the local art store, but unfortunately they do not carry much in the way of beadcraft supplies.

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Found a few nature magazines in the free bin at the library earlier this week, so I've been gradually cutting out origami squares from the colorful pages, and now there are 62 squares enough to fold another set of 31 masu boxes to wrap another full set of Advent Swap gifts.

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This showed up on my media feed; "Grateful Dead of the Day" is a website unfamiliar to me, and apparently one can click and listen to entire concerts...UMass Amherst Spring Concert; 5/12/79; I was there. Missed the first opening act, second opening act was Patti Smith! (very mixed genre crowd that day)...

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I was amused the last time out on my bike, to find a little free library that also had a separate low-to-the-ground open bin labeled "dog tales" and filled with a nice assortment of sticks.

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	add under elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	white scarf hem	recycle bin
4	enamels for John	add more elastics	greenwaste bin
5	tie-dye pillowcases	Viking bag strap	greenwaste bin
6	bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- an unexpected visit from Mindy
- learning to make tiny frogs 
- improved the tasty 4C salad recipe

Time of Isolation - Day 2178

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine runs some errands...

Today was lovely, as the weather shifted to a soft grey sky and the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. Time to enjoy bike-riding and getting a few errands done. Returned a library book, then decided to splurge by getting a coffee shop bacon/cheddar scone, which was just as delicious as the former time months ago. Hunger is the best sauce, and I'd forgotten to eat breakfast!

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~ better now... ~

The bag shoulder strap repair begun Tuesday is now finished. It was a bit tricksy getting all the stitching holes lined up once the Barge contact cement was ready, but the final re-stitched effect is quite tidy. It's good to have another small (indoor) task crossed off the to-do list!

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Made several attempts over the last few weeks to turn cottage cheese and almond flour into pseudo-bread and it just isn't something I like. Maybe try something else with cottage cheese, these crackers from cottage and cheddar or parmesan might be a better choice? Or I could rummage around and find the recipe I used ages ago for cheddar biscotti aka waybread (that was not gluten free, but was tasty and filling. Hmmm...

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Other chores got done prior to the rain arriving: the laundry (Mt. Washmore) was mostly dry on the line, and is now indoors to finish on the drying rack. And a bit more yard work to help fill up the greenwaste wheelie bin with more deadheaded sage and almost all the bunches of unripe grapes (which get removed before ripening to prevent the Invasion of the Danger Bugs) 

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Looking back on late June in years past: 2008 teaching cloisonne, 2010 Tigress Can Jam (strawberry rhubarb), 2012 saw the King Tut exhibition in Seattle, 2014 tiny Anglo-Saxon enamels, 2016 a sleeping hood for camping warmth, 2018 returning to tablet weaving, 2020 Nandina made her first appearance, 2022 a tinyworld Norse long-tent, 2024 in a world where everything falls apart, there is still beauty to listen to 

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Thought about getting an S-hook extension from the garden store so as to be able to hang my new cookpot to the pot-rack, then realised it would be useful to have measured the necessary distance first. Next time, or maybe get one of my blacksmith friends to custom make one that will be Just Right.

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	add under elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	white scarf hem	recycle bin
4	enamels for John	add more elastics	greenwaste bin
5	tie-dye pillowcases	Viking bag strap	greenwaste bin
6	x	x	recycle bin
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the pixel world lets me still hear music
- that very tasty bacon and cheddar scone
- today was cool, and not-sunny... my kind of weather perzactly

Time of Isolation - Day 2176

weekend whimsy

in which our plucky heroine looks all around...

or at least up and down. Parts of the weekend were a treat, and parts were a trial. Successfully trying out a new to me handcraft technique, remembering the frozen Roma tomatoes, and visiting with friends online were treats. Spiraling down into dark weasel territory on Saturday night was hard; the worst of the brain weasels don't actually lie, they contain just enough truth to really hurt. Erroneous choices can't be undone, and chances noticed too late will not come again in this lifetime. The trick is to find the small joys still possible.

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~ Rosa ~

Mischa and I are gradually setting up a new Wanderhome game (our first since Steph left the bright world), building new characters and a new place to create stories. I'd only barely dipped into the world of "gaming", in a particularly gentle, interactive, non combat-driven way, when my newest friend Steph was diagnosed and C all too quickly took them away. The rough sketch above is Rosa the maned wolf, my new character. They are a peddler/trader and deal primarily in spices, dyestuff, incense, miniature bells, colored floss, and tiny shrine furnishings.

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The tiny shreds of fabric and ends of thread leftover when sewing become frelch and have apparently a magnetic attraction to caster wheels. Rather than my vain efforts to neatly dispose of them in the large waste bin in the workshop, it occurred to me that small scrap holders in the immediate vicinity of the sewing machine and serger would be a better and more direct option, easy to empty into the larger bin as needed.

Ann Wood's "Stitched Vessel" tutorial (which has been sitting in my file of patterns-purchased-but-not-yet-made for ages) seemed like it was a perfect solution. Several hours of hand stitching turned into this boro-esque thread basket. A second one is already on my work table, also using the random cabbage from assorted wardrobe sewing projects; there are so many potential uses for such appealing small containers! 

2 ½" high, almost 3" diameter
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With the weather so hot as to make actual cooking less of a treat, a glance in the fridge showed the ingredients for a sort of panzanella. Well, there was a slice of leftover bread, cucumbers, feta, salad greens and suchlike, all that was missing was a tomato... Then I remembered that there were Roma tomatoes in the freezer, intended for making another batch of Awesome Sauce! Peeled and partially thawed, it was cut into chunks and added to the proto panzanella. The tomato did collapse into shreds, but added good flavor and moisture. A hack worth remembering.

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was not expecting thrilled to see this on Saturday morning when I checked the weather for the rest of the weekend: 
Issued: 10:57 AM May. 2, 2026 – National Weather Service...
HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM TO 11 PM PDT SUNDAY... 
- WHAT...Temperatures up to 91 degrees F expected. Significant cooling expected overnight. 
- WHERE...Greater Vancouver Metro, Lower Columbia River and Cowlitz River Valleys, Inner Portland Metro, and East Portland Metro. 
- WHEN...From 8 AM to 11 PM PDT Sunday. 
- IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses. 
- ADDITIONAL DETAILS...There is around 5% chance of high temperatures of 95 degrees or greater in urban areas around the Portland-Metro area. Overall Moderate HeatRisk with relieving cooling temperatures overnight. Highs will be near record breaking temperatures for this time of year.
So it wasn't a big surprise that the temperature this afternoon on the front porch was 94° F (34.5° C). Very grateful for the magic cool air machine aka heat pump.

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I've rather fallen in love with the printed motifs of this fabric, and think it would could make a very fun autumnal shirt. Rather more colorful than my usual wont, but there are almost all the colors I do wear: brown, and grey, and teal/turquoise, and blue, as well as all the rest of the rainbow, in a playful admixture of shapes that reference mid-century design.

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	-	-
2	boro thread basket	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- heat pump aka magic cool air that falls from ceiling
- left foot less painful
- using frozen tomato as salad flavoring
- anti-weasel serum from friends
- riding my bike past the park, seeing families celebrating birthdays or other special occasions, life happening in a pleasant public place. 

Time of Isolation - Day 2123

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

taxtime Tuesday

in which our plucky heroine gets ready...

The next week is all about tax prep, and I have another several days of gathering assorted papers before actual arithmetical activity begins. Today several of the necessary pieces were found living in the container of postage stamps, current bills, and blank check registers. There are at least two forms that will need downloaded from online sources. Fortunately, last year Past Me cleverly subdivided the little desktop business receipts file into categories that match those on Schedule C, which should make that part of the process easier and faster. 

Once all the papers are collected together, it usually takes about a day or two to do all the math, make all the multiple copies of forms both for my own records and the various different pages from the national form that get sent in with the state and transit taxes. Then a trip to the bank for a cashiers check, and the post office for postal money orders, and finally hand carrying the packets to be correctly postmarked on April 15.

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~ storefront signs of spring ~

This particular combination is new to me, intensely pointed orange petals shading to sharp green. All of the other green and orange tulips I've seen have been either softly rounded or ruffled. Of course, I am not any sort of aficionado, but these were odd and lovely, and tempting 

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The kombucha culture living on my countertop is doing quite well these days. It has occurred to me, amidst my current cogitation about devolution of supply chains and economic collapse, that kombucha left to ferment too long for pleasant drinking is as sour to the taste as vinegar. While probably not safe it would be challenging to ensure the acidity/strength was at a safe level to use in waterbath canning recipes, it would likely work well as an ingredient for  everyday cookery, or for things like salad dressings.  

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Sadly, I've fallen way behind on my 100 day drawing project. But rather than berate myself, shall simply begin again once the taxes are out of the way. If I can find a large enough wall space, it would be both fun and encouraging to lay out the index cards as a ten by ten grid, so that making more drawings would fill in the spots. It would probably be as satisfying as ticky-boxes. There isn't much in the way of empty wall space here, though.

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As part of refurbishing and replacing my current wardrobe, it has become obvious that collecting together supplies for mending the same, whether it is the specific yarn or fabric or spare buttons, would be very helpful, and avoid massive rummage through all the supplies. My first thought was a shoebox, but there were none empty. Then my eye fell on the pile of picnic baskets. I've more than a few, as rectangular wicker lidded storage was very useful indeed for my (former) SCA camping. They aren't in use now, and could be return to active duty in a different line of work.   

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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	-	electric bill found	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the organic Cara Cara oranges this year are really good: sweet, very flavorful, and juicy.
- in the process of clearing off the dining table to have room for tax prep paperwork piles, found the current electric bill (that was due 3/31!) and was able to pay it over the phone with no fee or late surcharge.
- using rectangular wicker picnic baskets to hold garment mending supplies.

Time of Isolation - Day 2098

red sky at night...

in which our plucky heroine rides home into the sunset...

The westering sky this evening was really spectacular, painted with various colors of red, magenta, and vivid madder. Had I not been on my bicycle I'd have tried harder to capture it on camera. This week has been a good one for noticing nature. I saw a house finch perched on the salad table cages, a hummingbird just sitting in the Japanese maple next to my porch, and the goldfinches are definitely here, at least for the moment.

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~ potsticker lasagna ~

Made up my usual filling (ground pork, minced Napa cabbage, green onions, and cilantro, seasoned with tamari, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, xiaoshing wine, and sesame oil), but set layered flattened tablespoons of filling between four wrappers in a custard cup and steamed for about 20 minutes... it cooked while I made up the rest of the filling into individual gyoza. I'd been seeing this concept in various places online and wanted to try it. Was not difficult, and results were successful as a dinner ready by the time the rest of the gyoza were formed and in the freezer... 

...but, in the future, I'm more likely to mostly continue my habit of making a large batch of individual dumplings, as once frozen they store really well, but this, while it wouldn't store well made ahead, was an easy meal to cook at the same time as doing the rest of the prep work. Next time remember to be a bit more generous with adding broth or water over the top before steaming, as the wrappers were partially stuck to the sides of the custard cup. And, while wandering online checking out the concept, also saw an easier way to fold the individual dumpling wrappers. Double win!

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Yesterday started with a kitchen crash, as while barely awake I somehow knocked one of my quart mason jars off the countertop, to shatter when it hit the concrete floor. Ugh, and alas, since it was one of my favorites, being turquoise blue rather than the more usual clear.  So, instead of continuing to make breakfast, it was necessary to find a paper sack, Very Carefully pick up the larger shards of glass, go get the vacuum to gather up as much of the smaller bits as possible, and finally with great care wipe down the entire area with damp paper towels. Do you know that tip? The damp paper towel grabs the tiniest glass fragments, the ones almost (or actually) too small to see, but after wiping the area, if you hold the paper at an angle, the bits of glass sparkle. Once there are no more sparkles, then the area is clean and safe again!

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~ simple decoration ~

Though the teal long janes were technically complete, one design detail often part of my style is to decorate hemline edges in one way or another. In this case, rather than add block printed trim, a faster option was to use Alabama Chanin reverse applique with several layers of scrap cabbage from the teal jersey fabric. One of the easiest options that came to mind was to simply trace around the edge of a thread spool in a line of dots, far enough apart to allow for stitching, and then cut away inside the dots. The tone-on-tone textured border is subtle, and, as the dots are stitched one at a time, is also flexible enough to allow for needed stretch.

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While am still wishing for the Exactly Right Sort of grey fabric for a new pinafore, there are enough much higher priority projects and garments on my list to keep me busy for months. It recently occurred to me to modify my TNT pinafore pattern into a cross back apron... as both a kitchen apron  and a workshop apron would be most useful. I'll use some of the odd greenish-grey Ikea curtain fabric (I've no idea why that is on my resource shelves) to sample the concept, and if it works as well as imagined, that will become a shop apron, and the Marimekko poppy fabric can be a somewhat more decorative kitchen apron. Use what is on hand.

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February SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	plaid flannel shirt	rice bags	greenwaste bin
2	23 postcards	INTERNET!!	recycle bin
3	teal linen pinafore	hydration station	greenwaste bin
4	bedroom shelves	grey felt slipper	recycle bin
5	tiger pocket	teal turtleneck	greenwaste bin
6	teal long janes	long jane borders	recycle bin
7	lots of drawings	removed 2 ferns	greenwaste bin
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

assorted gratitudes -
- sleep when tired. After bad insomnia, was so tired by late afternoon that a nap was essential. Set alarm for an hour and managed to wake back up and be functional.
- easier faster way to fold dumpling wrappers (not that my other way was difficult)
- Karen is going to send me a mini skein of red sock yarn to make tinyfolk hats.
- almost caught up on drawings.
- my good neighbors have several bird feeders in the side yard between our houses, which means I can enjoy the birds as well!
- the cotton lawn fabric from the Sewlarium is fabulous! Finely woven, not slubby, can be neatly snipped and torn, 60" wide and only $8/yd!!

Time of Isolation - Day 2058

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine returns to everyday life...

Somehow, the day afterwards seems to drag. My friends are far away once again, in the same way that in the Before Times, the day after one returns from a lovely holiday can seem most banal. Still there were tasks useful done, and sparks of beauty found.

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~ day 20 ~

I have two of these plaster Japanese Akita dog figurines, this one is about 4" tall, and white with golden accents and a red collar. (the smaller one I have is about half the size, and red) In 2023, this same dog was my subject of a reduction linocut print.

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An additional benefit of sorting/decluttering is finding things that have been missing or "lost". Since I have tinyfolk and their tiny world here, some of those things are very small indeed, and easy to overlook. I was very happy to find Opal's missing Birkenstock sandals, which are about the size of my fingernail. They were quite complicated to make, as shown in this blog post from 2024
In addition, while sorting through much of the paper clutter hoping to find where I'd written down Kate's address for the valentine postcard exchange, I remembered where it was, and could add it to the list for next month.

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Most of the birds I see every day in my yard are crows, juncos or chickadees, and sometimes hummingbirds. This morning I saw a small bird, with a reddish head and chest. According to the internets it was likely a house finch, also a very common local bird, just not one I had noticed here before.

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Many years ago, while travelling, we stopped at Rumiano's retail store in Crescent City, and bought part of a wheel of their dry jack cheese. Amazingly, I still have a very little bit of that cheese left; stored in the freezer it has been doled out over the years, thawed and grated to use as an ingredient. It is a long aged jack cheese, similar in texture to parmesan with it's own unique strong flavor. Why this is in my mind?.. While B & K were here, Beth shared some of their "cheesy buns" with me, a gluten-free roll made with tapioca and flax meal, egg, and a mixture of cheddar and strong dry cheese. (they use Romano) It occurred to me that some of my Rumiano's dry jack could also/instead work really well to flavor the recipe, and I am planning to give it a try...

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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 - 
- cold dry wind makes laundry line dry faster
- finding more lost things (Opal's sandals, and Kate's address)
- the button bands on the plaid flannel shirt project do interesting things where they intersect the bias bodice fronts.

Time of Isolation - Day 2031

begin again

in which our plucky heroine manages to catch up on sleep...

After the sound barrage between 11pm to almost 1 am, and then another at around 2:15 am, it was in the wee dark hours before adrenaline finally wore off enough for sleeping. So it was no surprise to me that my normal early waking was much delayed, though not quite all the way til lunchtime! My rest had been chopped into three chunks, but totalled over 8 hours so hey ho...

... and in the begin-as-you-mean-to-go-on category, I bundled up in layers of wool and went out for a walk in the middle of the day, despite the cold drizzle. It might not have been first thing on awakening, but done is better than perfect. An unleashed but thankfully friendly spaniel came over to say hello and left muddy footprints on my chore coat that will need to be washed off. Last year was not much of a success in getting morning light in the eyeballs, so I have room for improvement. Also encouragement to finish raincoat, make better fitting rainhat, and investigate finding better footgear than my Birki garden clogs.

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~ festive meal ~

The traditional New Year's meal, with some elaborations on my part. Black-eyed peas and steamed greens, with carrot coins in a saffron/golden syrup/cream sauce, and some of Sister Gigi's corn cakes topped with a dab of sour cream and Awesome Sauce. 

Just realised that my blue-and-white Dedham Pottery plate fits very well with the Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit start of the month ritual

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Alas I did not manage to complete the preparations for my 2026 calendar before January 1st. Hopefully folks will still enjoy it, even if a bit late. The otter/orchid design is sketched, but still needs inked. It will then need for me to have a good rummage to find suitable paper to create master copies, and also for me to sit down, glue in the drawings, and write out the months and their days and dates.  

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~ mirrored plaid ~

The uneven plaid fabric of my shirt in progress is now perfectly mirrored, as mentioned earlier. I am going to do something similar for the cuffs and the collar, though they are not usually cut on the bias. (tempting to do that for the cuffs, though) The sort of subtle detail of having the fabric balanced might only be actively noticed by others who sew, but the harmony makes a difference

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My daily bit of resipei embroidery will have to happen after my dinner, as there are still housey chores and creative endeavors yet undone. 

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~ day 1/100 ~

Today is the start of the 100 day drawing challenge "Objects Of My Affection". To begin this series, I chose the handmade carved and bentwood tine style box made for me by dear Kate, that holds my sewing tools that are in daily use. I remember when she was working on these boxes, I was able to help her with the sewing where the oval side walls are joined. She made the overlap on this particular box echo the neckline and shoulder straps of my pinafore bodice. 

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
- made a delicious traditional meal for New Year's Day
- had a great phone conversation with the B's
- did two of my intentions today: walking outdoors (despite rain) and started the 100 day drawing challenge
- Past Me bought self a Carson Ellis calendar for 2026, and it is on the wall in my bedroom now, where it will provide a year of enjoyment

Time of Isolation - Day 2014

Saturday snippets and bits

in which our plucky heroine goes to the farmers market...

The last market day of the year, and there were fewer food vendors and more handcraft vendors, not surprisingly. I had been hoping for some leeks, but got there too late in the day. Instead, I brought home what looked like skinny leeks but was actually young garlic; I'm guessing the farm was thinning the garlic crop? I also brought home some locally grown Purple Karma barley to try; it is whole rather than pearled, so takes longer to cook, and has a very different texture than the mucilaginous pearl barley...

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~ not bigger than a breadbox ~

But in fact it started out as just that... but now is in the process of being converted into a studio apartment for Opal. Not really set up yet, just some of the Caer Cardboard furniture moved in temporarily. Kenya and Sequoia are visiting while Opal puts her feet up for a few and thinks about what to deal with next... I'm thinking maybe a worktable, at least one bookcase, maybe an armchair instead of the couch, and a single bed insted of the big double clothespin bed. The flooring is contact paper on bristol board, and will anchor future color choices. Opal really likes "Danish Modern" MCM style, which isn't surprising given her heritage.

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The resipei embroidery project is perfect handwork to take with me when on transit. I get to fill some otherwise useless time with satisfying progress, and it isn't so absorbing that I miss my stop!

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Note to self (and to share)... do not use or purchase again "Anchor Hocking" brand lids for waterbath canning, even if they are $2 cheaper (and what is usually a reputable brand). Of the 12 lids in the box, tried using them with several recipes, more than half the lids did not seal. All the "Ball" brand lids used at the same time sealed properly. I have been canning for years, and never had this kind of problem before. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action...

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Yesterday when I was chatting with the B's about food over the phone, Barb described her "Green Soup" which sounded so appealing that I had to pick up some broccoli and some potato just to make a version of it myself. (she was telling me how she had to adapt due to them having an all day power outage; she used Mom's hand food mill instead of a stick blender) 

I had made some good strong chicken bone broth earlier in the week, and used that as a base. Added the broccoli, the yellow Finn potato, and all the other greens from the fridge (spinach, garden mix, and the remnants of bok choy). Cooked a small onion and half the bunch of green garlic then added that as well. Seasoned with some of Penzey's "Justice" mixture and a good spoonful of chicken better-than-boullion. Once it was all cooked and softened, the stick blender turned it into a fragrant green-flecked pot of delicious dinner (and several future meals). Since it was originally a broccoli-cheddar soup in theory, I added a few cheese cubes for garnish and was happy.

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This evening my laptop started behaving in a most peculiar way... it repeatedly threw up a banner across a quarter of the screen letting me know it was trying to "cast", while not allowing me to do anything else. I have never seen that before, and AFAIK had not told it to do so or pushed any new buttons?? Fortunately I was able to call Karen, and ask if John was free and could help with my computer problems. Once he called me back, he was able to talk me through poking around in the settings folder and turning off a bunch of stuff I never use, which seems to have at least stopped the giant banner from obscuring the screen, and lets me type again. It is a bit alarming how dependent I've become on the pixel world to keep in contact with the human world.

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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 -
- my sister in law is wonderful, I would be her friend even if she wasn't married to my little brother!
- John was able to do remote tech support on the phone, and we got my laptop to stop filling the screen with peculiar messages
- asking for help instead of panicking, and getting help 

Time of Isolation - Day 2002

can't begin any sooner

in which our plucky heroine wonders if different challenges would be easier...

Patting myself on the back, I just spent the whole afternoon doing financial admin tasks, and though not even halfway done, have made some significant progress. Still have a lot to do before the end of the year, and I feel right foolish for procrastinating so long on what turns out is not dreadfully difficult, just tedious and complex. I shall do my best to remember this tomorrow, when more of the same is on my task list. If only one could be removed, not sure which character flaw would be my first choice, imposter syndrome or procrastination. They work together as saboteurs...

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~ final foot ~

Last night figured out how to use a yarn needle to make loops through the cast off edges (as if to pick up stitches) since the scale of the shrew haunches is too small to do so easily with the knitting needles. Shrew is very close to being finished, just needs the right leg stiched up, toes made and tail knitted on... so kawaii that I'm almost tempted to make another one as a friend to the tinyfolks, said desire tempered however by a clear memory of how I feel about knitting with the 4/0 needles

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Still have some homegrown persimmons in the right stage (firm enough) to cut up and add to kale bulgur feta salad... and am wondering if in the summertime, could do the same thing with peaches or nectarines? I will also try it with a few of the frozen plums. The original recipe is just savory/spicy, not sweet at all, but the tiny addition of fruit sweetness adds so much. While my original change was to add a spoonful of dried currants, then switched to raisins, and I suspect my original inspiration was when 17 year old me was learning about cooking while mostly working as a dishwasher at Smoky Joe's Cafe in Saratoga Springs, and watching Gordon stir fry vegetables and adding in all kinds of ingredients that never would have occurred to my limited experience and palate...

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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	-	shrew eyes	yard waste bin
3	-	-	recycle bin
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -  
- homegrown persimmons in the kale bulgur feta salad
- got past my anxiety and procrastination to begin admin tasks 
- cooked up half the produce on hand into various partial or completed meals. This is always a goal of mine (though not always accomplished) as it makes everyday life easier.

Time of Isolation - Day 1992

Five-fold Lucky Robot

in which our plucky heroine is feeling satisfied...

So far, there have been a number of posts online of folks being pleased with their tiny Advent Swap treats, which makes me happy. I've done another admin task today, and a number of necessary cooking tasks: the quinces are all par-baked enough to cut up tomorrow for processing, and all the sweet potatoes have been oven roasted for future meals. Having soup cubes in the freezer has become a vital part of my everyday meal plans, and since there was one more leek hiding in the fridge, some more lentil barley leek soup will also be on the hob tomorrow... (I could put the lentils to soak tonight and start the day with kitchen tasks) 

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~ day 3 ~

Today my day started with this wonderfully personable tiny robot pendant as my advent treat! With a wishbone antenna, lucky elephant arms and maneki neko legs, they are a five-fold good luck charm, and I am pretty sure that someone had a lot of fun putting all the pieces together... 

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When it was obvious from the solar sign at the bus stop that there was a delay further up the line, a short visit to the art store filled the time nicely, and I was able to pick up a very tiny Rhodia graph paper notepad, and a really inexpensive pen, both of which will be good for EDC. Taking my regular Bujo with me is heavier than I want to carry, and a tiny pad to do things like write down transit routes, shopping lists, or note topics for next blog will be perfect. And supporting local shops is the best way I know to keep them in existence, at least the best possible for individual effort.

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Last week's produce box had a half dozen very green Bartlett pears, which are now at that just perfect stage... which usually lasts a day or two at most. Some were today's snacks, and one went into the faux cheescake. I might have to make a pear tart.

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	-	vegetable steamer legs	fridge science experiments
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- new Pentel pen has a pleasing somewhat triangular shape
- managed to get the remaining quinces par-baked tonight
- the delightful tiny flower vase (day 2) was made by dear Ariadne
- Bartlett pears

Time of Isolation - Day 1985

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

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine is currently Fjorlief the Forgetful...

and absent-mindedly forgot to check my own box of treats (wen sorting out the many boxes for the Advent Of A Better Year) and came up 4 short.. I'll put in a few of my own extra items, which won't be a "surprise" but will be a treat nonetheless. Probably I was so busy double counting everybody else and forgot about my own box tucked out of the way over on the nightstand

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~ Portland Frog says: ~

Seen behind a bus shelter on the way to my physical therapy appointment, not Shepherd Fairey AFAIK, but references their message infused artwork

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In the interest of using up my market coupons while there still is a fair amount of produce available, this afternoon a trip to St Johns seemed a good plan. Brought home nine beautiful red jalapeño peppers for the next batch of Awesome Sauce, and a lovely leek (intended for soup). I'll prep and freeze the peppers, since the tiny fridge is rather full right now, and chop and cook down the leek while I do some more prep for tomorrow

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My talk tomorrow noon is entitled "Homegrown tree fruit can be easy -  Concerned about supply chain issues, or just want to reduce your food miles... Growing tree fruit in your yard, while not as instant as annual vegetables, is easier than you might think. Keeping trees short by pruning means that you can care for them and harvest fruit while standing on the ground." So far I have an outline, and some useful facts, but have not done my usual "write out the entire speech". May do a bit more tonight, but am thinking that early to bed tonight and more writing in the morning might be better. Could re-read "Grow A Little Fruit Tree" as my bedtime book.

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a few more potential ideas for next years Swap projects:

tiny robins made from egg carton cardboard
half circle book in a tin with eggs 
how to create a shallow origami masu box

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief	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	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- it was cold but wasn't raining this afternoon for my excursion to the farmer's market
- Long ago Jen made me a Totoro hat, which covers my ears in a delightfully warm way! 
- The shadowbox Advent Calendar that Acantha gave me, which has become more whimsical year by year

Time of Isolation - Day 1975

Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine enjoys visiting friends in the pixel world...

Last winter I wanted to add red lentils to the earthquake storage shelf, more than just the little Talenti tub full, since they cook really quickly. Though I found a consortium of organic farmers in Montana that did direct sales and carried larger amounts, they have been out of stock for months. I was worried that there may have been a crop failure, but today when I checked, they were finally available again. The per pound cost is significantly less than what I can buy them for locally, though it means I need to figure out good storage for a ten pound bag. Probably another bucket and gamma lid set from TAP Plastics, like I use for my canning sugar storage. And this is another example of the Vimes Boots Theory in action. Right now I can afford to buy ten pounds of lentils at a time, rather than by the half cup full out of the bulk bins at the store.

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~ who's looking at you... ~

Tiny owl ornaments just over 1¼" tall, made from egg carton cardboard, feather scraps, thin craft wire, and some random twigs. These will all be packed away to wait for next year's advent swap... I've made a dozen so far, and cut out the ovoids for two dozen more... I suspect that by the time I finish those I will be quite done with tiny owls!

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Long ago when I was in school, we had a friend Hutch, a Vietnam vet. I still have a Vietnamese wedding blanket he gave me that hangs on the bedroom wall here at Acorn Cottage. I remember one time when we were all hanging out on a summer evening in the bus he and his lady lived in, and he cooked this delicious cold chicken salad for dinner. I still have and use that recipe, and think of him every time. I don't know if he is still in the bright world, as the last few times trying to track him down were not a success... not at the former address, and no listings online under either of the names I knew him by, back in the day. But if as they say, we are never all the way gone until the ripples we made have all disappeared, then he is still here, since I am still mixing up that sauce...

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief	greenwaste bin
2	5 jars pickled beets	more chopshop repair	recycle bin
3	1# hand weights	-	-
4	a dozen owls	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce (recipe from Hutch years ago) drizzled over a lettuce and arugala salad, with cold roast chicken from yesterday.
- Today was dry and breezy enough that it was possible to line dry the bed linens, so tonight will have the wonderful fresh air scent.
- online zoom visits, never not grateful for...
- Helga will be taking me on a Costco run

Time of Isolation - Day 1964