inky-dinky-doo...

in which our plucky heroine finds an ingredient...

I've never tried making ink, but then I've never found oak galls before. Out for a walk with Wellington early this morning, on one of the nearby streets there was something unusual. At first glance, my thought was mushrooms, but they were far too regular in shape, and there were a lot of oak leaves on the ground...oh, those must be oak galls! One of empty pickup bags served as to hold some to bring home, and there will be another gathering trip on our afternoon walkies. 

According to various online instructions, making ink takes a bit of time and effort, but isn't difficult. Basically you grind up the galls then steep them in rainwater for anywhere from a day to a month. An iron compound turns the brown liquid to deep black, so soaking some rusty iron (or steel wool) in vinegar for a time provides the iron. Combine the liquids after straining them. Gum arabic can be added for a thicker consistency, and some folks advise adding a clove to the finished ink to help preserve it. 

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~ it's beginning... ~

... to look a lot like Advent Swap! About ⅔ of the folks who've signed up have sent in their gifties, and the rest should arrive soon. Alas several folks forgot to include the return postage that allows me to mail back the filled boxes of treats, but hopefully that will also be rectified. It is exciting how many new people are in this year's group!

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Haven't yet become comfortable with Affinity.  I still need to learn how to  properly get the results desired. Something I am doing, or not doing, causes my photos to become less crisp and more blurry, which is the opposite of what I want. And I haven't yet figured out keep forgetting how to save properly either, in the format and location desired. (hint to self : it is via "Export" not either "Save" or "Save As") Patience grasshopper...

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~ mullein blossom ~

most of the plant is not only done flowering but grey-black and completely senescent, but here and there along the blossom stalks there are these new bright flowers.. a little confused as to the season, but lovely nonetheless...

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Earlier this week started some sample tiny owl ornaments, and since the results are pleasing, cut out enough oval discs from egg carton cardboard for another two dozen, which would result in one full set of swap treats for next year... They are the sort of small handwork task I can do while online 

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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	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the camera my dad gave me 20 years ago takes excellent macro photos.
- found the long time missing cap for my turned wood seam ripper
- oak galls!
- nephew Alex sent me his old Samsung S9 phone, which I intend to have activated. I need to replace the battery, since that is its weakness, and get it an Otterbox, but it might be the answer to my current phone dilemma.

Time of Isolation - Day 1962

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine gets an unexpected visit ...

It has been well over a year since I last saw my dear friend Tullia, a far cry from the days when she lived closer. This afternoon she came over for an outdoor visit, and as it was not actively raining, we could walk around the neighborhood and chat. And, she thought of me on her recent trip to Japan and brought back two tiny maneki-neko for my collection, which with these additions now numbers 23, all different, and most under 1" tall.

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~ more tiny treats ~

so far, doing well on track for the increased timeline of 12 more groups of five trinkets or treats for bonus "The Advent of A Better Year in 2026" Swap boxes. Item 1: five more painted lunaria decorations, item 2: five golden origami dragons, and have started but not quite completed item 3: five very small amanita ornaments made from acorn caps and q tips... While it is easy to choose complex tiny treats, the big challenge is figuring out 12 different simple-to-make options before the end of October.

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After my computer spex broke, I was (thankfully) able to order a new ones from eyebuydirect. Since there was a BOGO sale, two backup pairs. Both arrived today, and now I need to order some replacement nose pads. My skin reacts badly to the soft silicone most nose pads are made from, so it is off to "NosePads.com", niche shopping for hard plastic ones in the correct size and configuration. All their nose pads are also two pair for the price of one, and having some extra on hand is not a bad idea. My intention is to put together a spex first aid kit (tiny screwdriver, extra screws and nose pads, lens wipes, loctite, etc) to store in the medicine cabinet.

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Suddenly, in the last two days, the bay nuts have begun to fall from the bay laurel trees. It would be good to gather some this year, enough to share with my friend Mr Dawson who enjoys them... The nuts do require a fair amount of processing; husking, drying, then roasting. (I've also always thought about a version of Almond Roca toffee with roasted bay nuts...)

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	6 lunaria pod ornaments	wheelbarrow tire	greenwaste bin
2	5 more lunaria ornaments	cardigan cuffs	recycle bin
3	5 golden origami dragons	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- new computer spex
- a visit with Tullia
- two new tiny maneki neko

Time of Isolation - Day 1938

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine learns something new...

The temperature on the porch this afternoon was again close to 100F in the shade. I sure hope it is at least a little cooler next week when the roof here at Acorn Cottage is scheduled for replacement!

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~ milkweed ~

Whenever I see these flowers now, I am reminded of Bujold's "The Sharing Knife" series, where Fawn mentions them in a metaphor...

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Today the lovely scent of the lindens along the street nearbywas mostly gone, and the ground beneath the trees was covered with tiny fallen blossoms. I'd been reading about folks urban foraging the flowers for tea, and will make a note in my journal to remember to try that, next year in late June...

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Having finished the Eames knit top refurbishment, more handwork is needed. A large square of printed cotton lawn (Alexander Henry "Trios") makes a good headscarf, once the edges are finished with a rolled hem. Today, when I was whinging a bit to Karen about how slowly the process was going, she mentioned how helpful she has found using a sewing bird to be. Well, I actually remembered that I do own such a tool*, though have never used it, and indeed was unsure as to its whereabouts... 

During a break in our video chat, it was time to start hunting. It wasn't in my sewing box, but it eventually turned up in an old Chinese biscuit tin jumbled in with with random serger tools. After a false start, once I figured out where to place the clamp vis a vis my cloth and my hands: Hoo Whee! This is the most excellent improvement ever, and really speeds up the rolled hem handstitching significantly. I'm really glad to have acquired it at some point in the past, and will surely make use of it in future hand sewing projects!!

*sewing bird aka kakehari set

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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	-	Eames top	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- homeostasis. I feel much better now than earlier today.
- sewing bird: a tool I owned for years but had never before used, which upon taking Karen's suggestion, turns out to be an amazing assistance in hand sewing.
- The mysterious brightly colored frozen cubes turned out to be cooked sweet potato, a perfect dinner for my wobbly tummy.

Time of Isolation - Day 1814

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine looks forward to cooler days to come...

Despite the heat, there are already plenty of signs of the seasons turning... Various berries and fruits begin to be visible on trees and bushes. A charm of goldfinches rose ahead of my bicycle early this morning, flashing upwards into the sky.

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~ plentitude ~
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The pomegranate is the first I have seen over the fence into a local garden, though I have read that they can grow in our zone, and seeing one on the plant IRL will be helpful in my drawing them in the future According to my blog records, on the other hand, it has been ten years since last I (successfully) experimented with using poke berries to get a good red dye on wool. No one minds if you pick berries from alley weeds.

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Thursday afternoon it was 104 on my front porch, while Friday afternoon it "only" made it to about 102. This wave over the next few days is likely the last gasp of summer heat for this year. I bless the heat pump.

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	a dozen tetras	porch valance	plum logs
2	tiny doll shorts	mask elastics	oldest pinafore
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes-
1. phone chat with Ursel was great body doubling for me to get back to my scribal efforts, and I made good progress on the Scythian background of interminable tiny dotted texture
2. the art store had several different options for paper for block printing, and once I cut strips I can start on the textile livestock book, my next Advent Swap item. (well some for the swap, and some just because I have pals who like tiny things)
3. homemade "Goddess Dressing" is so yummy, particularly when made with Soom tahini (thank you Jenna for turning me on to that delicious ingredient), and one recipe lasts me for about a week of everyday salad dressing. Is also delicious instead of mayo for use in tuna, egg, or noodle salads:

Tahini Goddess Salad Dressing

⅓ c oil 2¾ T tahini 2½ T cider vinegar 2 t tamari 2¼ t lemon juice ¾ t salt 1 T minced parsley 1 T minced chives 1 minced clove garlic (or ¼ t garlic granules)

Mix together the tahini and the oil first, to allow the tahini to be smoothly incorporated. Then mix in all the other ingredients. You can add some water at the end, if the dressing is thicker than you prefer.

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Time of Isolation - Day 1518

brought to you by the letter W

in which our plucky heroine feels slightly amused ...

'Tis time to think of an improvement in waterproofing, of the personal and wearable sort... and I had almost forgotten, that this was also a weekend of dogsitting, for little Wellington (though he has no footgear of his own) has come to stay here while his local person spends the weekend being very busy.

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autumnal still life:

The persimmons are from a local tree that I had permission to pick some from, and the pomegranate is from Green Zebra. I plan on using the rind of the pomegranate for a natural dyeing experiment, tangential to my plan for colors of the neighborhood. While this particular fruit did not grow within walking distance of Acorn Cottage, there are in fact pomegranates growing less than a mile from here, but as they are in someone's yard and obviously purposefully planted, it seemed better to buy one. The rind supposedly yields a yellow dye. I will be curious to find out, and also to compare to the supposed yellow of rosemary sprigs. It is going to be a year of experiment and learning...

baby pomegranates photographed earlier this year...
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Today I finally begin the Raincoat Project. To be sure, the project started years ago, nay, decades. I have several lengths of suitable fabric on my resource shelves. (I remember buying black "London Fog" yardage when I lived in Seattle back in the late 80's, which is still waits for the perfect pattern.) I intend, however, to use the chocolate microfiber (lined with microfleece, with a layer of Goretex fused between them) that was the last of my special fabric purchases from the late lamented Rose City Textiles...

This morning I pulled that stack down to see how many yards there were. Folded inside the yardage was a length of thin slippery black lining material, and two different sizes of robust separating zippers. Past Me was clever and thoughtful - I would be hard put to easily acquire nowadays the necessary supplies I had bundled in with the intended raincoat fabric! I lack for nothing to turn my idea into reality. Today I will chalk out the pattern pieces, and do some thinking about what specific adaptations my chore coat pattern needs to turn it into a raincoat.

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Earlier this year, I bought strawberries, and froze them, and bought rhubarb, and cut up and froze that as well. Now I am preparing to make strawberry rhubarb sauce, which is, other than quince or marmalade, my favorite to spoon over yogurt. And once that is done, it will be time to make persimmon ketchup for gifts for my no nightshade friends. I do enjoy putting up preserves, it is so comforting, both in the doing and in the eating afterwards. I wish I had a bigger pantry...

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	skull collar #2	-	recycle bin
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. the scent of summer strawberries, when I stir the bowl where they macerate in sugar
2. Sometimes Past Me is smart - I would be hard put to easily acquire nowadays the supplies I bundled in with the intended raincoat fabric!
3. The vivid colors of the wet leaves against the grey sidewalks

Time of Isolation - Day 1003

eye spy

in which our plucky heroine is extra tired...

... so much so that I almost fell asleep on the bus on the way home from my eye exam. I woke before my alarm, and since I was awake, it made no sense to go back to sleep for another 20 minutes. Though maybe I needed that rest I didn't get? It will be an early night tonight for certain. I've not had any of the specialty eye exam portions in several years, for obvious reasons, as things like the visual fields test is only done in one or two locations.

I have some optical oddities that need checked regularly, as well as the normal issues of age and some medical risks, so it was more than time for an exam. That said, it was awful to be in the busy waiting room... and, then to discover that my nice secure P100 mask was too large for the machinery to cope with. I actually started to cry in the exam room, which was terribly embarrassing. The technician handed me some tissues, and gave me the option to simply go home and not do the exams... or, she suggested that she could instead get me some of the N95 masks the doctors wear there. Ugh, having to choose between possible Covid and possible blindness, I hate this pandammit with a terrible hate!

I decided that wearing a surgical mask, and then an N95 over it would have to do. The tech was very understanding and kind, and had a fun sort of jokey patter about the various machinery, which I appreciated. In the end, the doctor let me know that my eyes are still in good shape, that my range of peripheral sight is still complete, and that the other issues are only slightly changed from three years ago and that there is no need for either medication or surgery. Yay for decent (if myopic) vision!

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signs of autumn:

I was looking down whilst walking back to the Joan of Arc traffic circle in the middle of the day today, and found these absolutely splendid fractal patterned fallen leaves. Since I had no easy way to bring them home, I carefully tucked them inside my folded up printout of my future appointments, in the hope of being able to photograph them before they crumbled away to bright dust. Obviously I was successful, though it did take my being rather careful to not squash them inside my chore coat pocket.

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I don't have any more rosewater. I thought I had another bottle in the back of the pantry. I do have a bottle of orange flower water though, that might work as a substitute flavor/scent addition. Oh, why am I looking for my bottle of rosewater? I started making some quince jelly, and I like to add just a bit of rosewater to help bring out the floral aspect. (note: I just found a BBC recipe that calls for orange flower water, and several of my online more foodie friends had good things to say about the use of same with quince jelly) Since I still have about another 20# of quinces, there is room for trying a new thing...

My quince paste experiment is a qualified success... I have a tray full of very dark gelid sweet/tart highly flavored confection all about 3/8" thick. I have cut it into tiny rectangles, which I plan on wrapping in squares of parchment paper, since I cannot think of what other way to neatly store it, as it is still very slightly sticky on the outside. It could be served dusted with bakers superfine sugar, or even perhaps with confectioner sugar, or just laid out in a fan on a plate with some sharp cheese. I may send some along with a jar of quince jelly, and some quincemeat, as a holiday gift box to family or friends.

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Today seemed very cold, at least, the wind was strong so the wind chill made it feel a lot colder than the bright sun would have one believe. Another day with over 10K steps outdoors, so there is that. I am thinking I need to either buy or knit a pair of thin gloves to wear underneath my knitted wristers, to keep my fingertips warm, as my former pair of gloves is nowhere to be found. Since they were the tiny extra stretchy synthetic ones from a dollar store, they are no great loss to my budget, but the niche in my wardrobe still needs something. Maybe I should try the glove pattern I generated a few years ago, intended to be made up as outdoor garden gloves, I could use some thin leather as a sort of "wearable muslin"...

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	skull brooch	vacuum heat intake	broken porch planter
2	salsa verde	new pinback on flower	recycle bin
3	pale grey long janes	26# quinces picked	recycle bin
4	trim for long janes	black embroidered slip	-
5	quince paste	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. My eyes are healthy, whew!
2. I did not need to get my eyes dilated. There had been some miscommunication, and the dilation portion done earlier this year is recent enough. While I understand the necessity, and am grateful for being able to get my eyes examined, it takes almost a full day for the dilation to wear off, and until it does, I cannot do anything that requires my eyes to focus. No reading, or any handwork, and even cookery is a bit dicey, at least the kind that requires sharp knives. So, I was quite happy to forgo that!
3. I rode my bike in the afternoon, and found a pokeberry plant full of berries. I will ride back again later this week and gather some to use to dye a small skein of wool. It makes a reasonably fast deep red dye (do not eat). It would be fun to do a bit of card weaving with home dyed wool using dyestuff from my own neighborhood. My freezer has a container with rather a lot of clerodendrum berries, gathered over several years, which would give me a blue. I might want a yellow as well, hmmm, must ask my more expert friends about that. At any rate this would be a fun middle of the winter project.

Time of Isolation - Day 986

tiny book Tuesday and other tidbits

in which our plucky heroine wishes she was less reactive...

I've hired the young neighbor boy to weed whack the front and back yard, the back yard in particular is really in bad shape. While this will allow my arm to continue healing, stirring up the dust and in particular the pollen has my head all itchy/sneezly. If this was not annoying enough, I seem to have encountered some terrible bad bug(s), and now have more than 12 awfully itchy bites around my lower torso and left leg. The bites look like mosquito or spider bites, with 1"+ welts, which means I am in for at least 2 weeks or more of intense itching wherever my body intersects with any clothing. Too bad naked free fall is not an option!

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time in the tinyworld:
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Day 19 “itsy bitsy”…Nandina is holding the smallest doll I ever made, at 35mm tall, (by comparison Nandina is about 14cm tall) I found the tiny doll with other miniatures I’d made decades ago, that my mother saved in the curio cabinet… the tiniest doll was made from polymer clay and glue saturated fabric, with silk fiber hair and painted features. I made her feet rather large in proportion, so that she can actually stand on her own.

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I saw these interesting miniature pieces of  "art pottery" on Instagram, which turned out to be made from dried poppy pods, and remembered seeing some similar botanical bits on my back alley rambles recently. Pods have been acquired and I think will soon become decorative pieces for Caer Cardboard

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~ creativity challenge ~

I just found out about "Tiny Book Tuesday"... and had been wanting to make some "composition books" for my tiny friends. The new printer made it possible to create tiny labels, and the covers are from the linings of security envelopes. Actual size 20mm x 16mm

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	wee fruit basket	recombinant reindeer	yard waste bin
2	mini fire pit	shelf for router	excisional flesh
3	Emilia brown dress	Emilia's legs	entryway spiderwebs
4	Emilia batik dress	replace blouse buttons	recycle bin
5	Kestrel work apron	front yard mowed	-
6	eyeglass case	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - that was truly weird. Something in my first attempt at a blog post yesterday removed a chunk of the blog sidebar. Not from the template, but from how it was appearing on the screen. Never did anything like that before.

After a modest panic, I decided to delete that post, et voila the missing sidebar reappeared, from which I deduced that the problem was my post, and not some inherent new weirdness in the platform. This also proves my cleverness in having a mirror blog as backup, so I could harvest a copy of my post.

I then rebuilt the post, one item at a time from my mirror blog, checking after each addition to see where the SNAFU was hiding. While I am not good enough at reading HTML to have parsed what the error was, I was slow and careful enough, to, when the offending section was discovered, to rebuild just that section bit by bit and the problem did not return. I am feeling right chuffed at the moment

Time of Isolation - Day 851

fingers crossed

in which our plucky heroine quivers, but not with anticipation...

though I would be delighted with a good outcome, I am not confident. My essential nature, that pessimistic nay-saying "crabby appleton", that aspect of myself that is the most difficult to live with, that I struggle with daily and have for decades, is what I need to both wrestle with and treat kindly... Child-self deserves kindness, and so today rather than glue my eyeballs to the pixelworld, I am going to do as many healthy, creative and productive small things as possible.

There will be cooking, and some painting. There will be a start on making a dress for wee Kestrel, who daily becomes less wee. There will be more carving on block 3 of "Making Art For A Change". I will tackle one small area of declutter and tidy to create an oasis of peace at home. There will be a walk, bundled in handknits, a mask, and a raincoat, because walking is the thing that I can still do that brings my body peace. There will be a phone call to my Aged Parents, as I do most days these days. There will be a bit of time to practice the harp, a new learning challenge.

I will count my blessings. I will remember that I come from a long line of Those Who Survived...

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beauty in the time of isolation - day 235:

"blue dyeberries"

I worked hard to discover the name of Clerodendrum trichotomom aka "Harlequin Glorybower", after the first time I ever walked by one that was blooming. It has flowers that smell like the wind from paradise. One of the first things I did when I moved to Acorn Cottage was to plant one in front of the house. There are a number of them growing around the neighborhood.

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After their autumnal flowering, they develop the most spectacular fruiting display, with vivid red star-sepals centered with tiny electric blue "berries". What I discovered online is that those berries can actually be used as a blue dyestuff, which is called in Japan by a name that means "the other blue". Finally I have managed to gather enough to try this for myself, as I visit various locations and forage for dyestuff, storing my finds in a freezer container until I have a free day to experiment. I am hoping to acquire some undyed silk embroidery thread, as well as the thin undyed wool thread already on hand.
some information on dyeing
some more information about dyeing

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	five new dishtowels	restring beads	-
2	x	x	-
3	x	x	-
4	x	x	x
5	x	x	x
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - the cycles of the natural world, which persist, and in persisting, continue to bring up bounty and beauty

backalley blackberry bounty

in which our plucky heroine continues to enjoy having a destination...

however random, and occasionally prickly. Blackberries are gradually ripening, and while not abundant or common (unlike other places I have lived in the PNW), I head out daily with a Talenti tub in my pinafore pocket, and have been managing to find enough to harvest, one or two berries at a time, that there will be at least a few small jars of syrupy goodness for future delectation.

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~ 100 day creativity challenge - day 44 ~

transfered the completed design for the next print in the series:  "EQUITY". The lettering will be counterchanged where it crosses the arm, and carving the lettering is going to be quite a challenge, considering the scale of the block, at just under 3" wide. For those who can't read backwards, the quote is "Justice is what love looks like in public" - Cornel West

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This excellent article really clarifies the current state of mind here at Acorn Cottage, as well as what various friends and family are experiencing...

“If you stay in the rational when nothing else is rational, like right now, then you’ll just stress yourself more,” she says. “What I say with ambiguous loss is the situation is crazy, not the person. The situation is pathological, not the person.”

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beauty in the time of isolation - day 154:

Most of the places with flowers currently are the yards where people water their garden beds; this striped phlox is very eye-catching! I enjoyed the contrast between the subtle lavender/white striping, and the red/black of Nandina's stocking feet...

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Frog and Toad Tentatively Go Outside After Months In Self-Quarantine  by Jennie Egerdie

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	scribal sketchbook	light bulbs replaced	yard waste bin
2	scroll for Countess E	box fan cleaned	recycle bin
3	tiny knitting bag	box fan cleaned	-
4	tiny tote bag	rosemary pruned	-
5	Nandina handknit	box fan cleaned	-
6	Nandina sunhat	organise new paint	-
7	tiny knitting book	x	x
8	Nandina clothing	x	x
9	tiny basket	x	x
10	another tiny rag doll	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - "faith is the ground, stubborn is the crop".... this was one of my several self-created touchstones as a young person, always rebuked for my stubborn ways... I chose to believe that someday somehow, Future Me would be happier. I didn't give up, and in many ways I didn't give in. And there have been happy times scattered amongst the everyday. Perhaps those precious few shine the brighter for the difficulty surrounding them. And perhaps at the end of life, this current conflagration will not be the finale, and I can only hope some additional gems of joyful times lay sleeping in the arms of the yet-to-be...

Monday music and miscellany

in which our plucky heroine knows that the world is not just for humans...

every morning, paying attention to what fragments of the natural world are there to be seen, whether it is the colors of the sky and clouds, the small urban predators that many people keep as commensal housemates, or the avian life that seems most visible when there are fewer humans. Today there were several flickers, a mourning dove, and a pair of chickadees all in the alley behind Carla's house. I let them be, and chose to walk another way.

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something peaceful to listen to
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something intense and fun to listen to
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~ 100 day creativity challenge - day 43 ~

Started working on the "EQUITY" print yesterday... still needs some work, as I don't have all the parts looking quite the way I envision them, but the general effect is there... more sketch layers today, and I should be ready to start carving the block sometime this week.

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Lately, on my sanity strolls, I've been carrying along several small empty Talenti tubs in my pinafore pockets, to take advantage of backalley blackberries. No one will mind my careful harvest of the fruit of what are invasive and often unwanted vines, and with care, there should be enough to turn into several jars of bramble syrup to add to my winter pantry.

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beauty in the time of isolation - day 151:

...after my enjoyment of the wonderful stenciled koi, as I raised my eye a bit above the sidewalk, there was this cheerful statement stuck to the planter in front of the little shop... I'm really curious now, about the people connected to the shoe repair shop, and I hope that they continue there successfully

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Is this not the most delightful tiny soapstone pot! My Swedish friend Riia made it for Nandina... carved from a fragment from Solem quarry in Norway.* It is a representation of a Viking Age cooking pot, and I think now that Nandina needs a whole small SCA encampment, with gear and a campfire made from an LED flickering candle...

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	scribal sketchbook	light bulbs replaced	yard waste bin
2	scroll for Countess E	box fan cleaned	recycle bin
3	tiny knitting bag	box fan cleaned	-
4	tiny tote bag	rosemary pruned	-
5	Nandina handknit	box fan cleaned	-
6	Nandina sunhat	organise new paint	-
7	tiny knitting book	x	x
8	Nandina clothing	x	x
9	tiny basket	x	x
10	another tiny rag doll	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - creative kindness... yesterday I found out that my pal Ursel is making a little Viking style tent for Nandina! (I guess I better get busy making her some additonal SCA camping gear, eh?...)


* 62.945505, 10.470134 is the location of the quarry you can paste into google maps.

foraged fiber and other foldreol

in which our plucky heroine spends another day hiding indoors...

another scorcher on the way today... will probably go over 100 again. I will not plan on anything that requires elaborate brain function today, yesterday I was so dull with discomfort that we shut down Crafternoon early, everyone was not particularly functional or really conversational. My plan for today involve some of the neverending indoor chores, running some extra water out to the tomato plants, and an assortment of small, pleasant craft activities (making a tiny rag doll for the neighbor child, beginning color experiments with my new paints, laminating some more cardboard, etc), all interspersed with short cold showers, and tzatziki salad. If there is bacon in the freezer, there will be another BLT for lunch.

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~ 100 day creativity challenge - day 40 ~

I have been foraging/gathering discarded plant materials found in the neighborhood... it has been many long years since I did any basket weaving, but the theme for this month's challenge over in Tiny Rag Doll World, is "try something new", and I decided that Nandina needs assorted containers for her future abode. I already made her some tote bags, and baskets are always useful!

plaited basket base, made with false dandelion (aka "cats-ears") stems. I had not planned on using this, but noticed the long dry stems laying on the ground in the backyard where I had forgotten to pick them up after my last bout of weeding, and figured it was worth trying... My understanding is that it is always better to dry stuff first and rehydrate as that way materials do not shrink (as much)

twining sides, with split bearded iris leaf weavers. I had found a big pile of discarded iris leaves, and brought them home last month, and pinned them to the clothesline to dry. That took weeks! It was worth it though, as the leaves have a wonderful smooth texture, and feel quite strong. In fact I was also able to use the leftover rehydrated leaves to make a fine yet sturdy cordage...

Because it has been years since I did any basketry, and that was not particularly elaborate, I had no idea how I was going to finish off this tiny basket. I chose this first example to follow. It worked okay, but was difficult to do at the small scale of my border. I was also not particularly pleased that I could not trim the ends neatly inside the basket, partially due to scale, and partially because trimming the ends close would cause the border to fail. I intend to do further searching online to find other border weaves for future baskets!

the finished basket is just over an inch tall, not including the handle. Yes that is an actual normal size push pin it is hanging from... and another indicator of scale is that the basket fits tidily on the top of an ordinary thread spool:

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beauty in the time of isolation - day 143:

this beautiful collage is another local memorial to lives lost

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I was quite alarmed this morning when I saw that our local ballot drop box had disappeared! Once I returned home from my sanity stroll, I was able to find out that according to the county, a replacement will hopefully be placed not too far away, and hopefully in plenty of time before the election...

Please note, the North Lombard Goodwill Drop box will be relocated to a new location for the November 3, General Election. The Goodwill store is undergoing renovation and the Drop Box was removed to prevent damage. The temporary location will be near the Goodwill store. All libraries are now 24-drop sites including the nearby Kenton Library.

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	scribal sketchbook	light bulbs replaced	-
2	scroll for Countess E	box fan cleaned	-
3	tiny knitting bag	box fan cleaned	-
4	tiny tote bag	rosemary pruned	-
5	Nandina handknit	x	-
6	Nandina sunhat	x	-
7	tiny knitting book	x	x
8	Nandina clothing	x	x
9	tiny basket	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - electricity, which allows for such amelioration as box fans, ice cubes, and a refrigerator full of cold food.

Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine is rather tired...

Horrible nightmares early this morning of trying to escape wildfires, where what looked like rising fog turned into smoke just ahead of fires on two sides of a valley... Back in the late eighties, the year I lived in the hills north of Sandpoint, we had a level 2 evacuation alert for forest fire. As a child in SoCal the hills burned almost every summer, so it isn't surprising that fire is in my database as a danger, just not one that usually shows up in my Dreamlands*.

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Perhaps I am not the only one that feels ambivalent about the invasion of my kitchen by tiny sugar ants. It happens pretty much every year around this time, when the weather gets cold and wet. Suddenly they are all over my countertops, despite my efforts to keep the counters clean. And every year I wish I had some way to just ask them to not show up, but instead, every year I kill them. Mix together several common household pantry items, a spoonful or two of peanut butter, the same of sugar, and the same of borax (which I keep on hand both for occasional laundry use, and as a backup flux for soldering). After mashing those together, I add in just enough water to make a thickish slurry, so it will be both irresistible to the ants and easy for them to carry back to their colony, where it will also kill any other ants that eat it. This can be placed in small shallow containers where no children or pets can access them, and in a few days, the ants will be gone...

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Inktober continues...

21. furious


22. trail
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all the blustery weather has done a great job of knocking down lots of bay nuts from the local trees; I intend to collect some in the next few days. They do require quite a bit of processing, though. The last few years I have totally missed their very short season. I have a cunning plan, that hopefully will work out, if I can gather at least a pound or two...

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	fig cottage syrup (jam)	repot lg spider plant	wood scraps
2	puzzle ball toy	pinafore mended	bag to Goodwill
3	laser cut name pendant	U-lock loosened	bag to Goodwill
4	laser cut horses	Sterret scribe	bag to Goodwill
5	braided knit ball toy	destem elderberries	bag to Goodwill
6	five Inktober drawings	treerat mesh cloche #2	bag to Goodwill
7	four more Inktobers	planted green onions	bag to Goodwill
8	another three Inktobers	wheelbarrow tire	yard waste bin
9	three more Inktobers	workroom wall patched	x
10	two Inktobers	studio shelf sides	x
11	laser cut wreath	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

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* There are specific and interconnected neighborhoods, places, and buildings that I return to again and again when I am asleep, I call them the Dreamlands, and someday I will draw a map of them in my bright world life... it would be interesting

unearned grace

...in which our plucky heroine shifts focus from grumble to grateful...]

My kindly houseguests cleared a path through the backyard weedfilled jungle to the feral plum tree, and picked up all the undamaged windfalls, and most of the fruit still on the tree. All I need to do is put the plums in the freezer, and toss the damaged windfalls for the chickens. Happy girl will have plums this winter!

The feral plum tree has given Acorn Cottage somewhere around 12 to 14 lbs of tasty Italian prune plums. I neither planted or take care of this tree, which is wedged between the shed and the back fence, but the plums are sweet and unblemished. Girl is filled with gratitude for this unearned bounty.

Another nice thing about prune plums is how very easy they are to process for freezing, all that is needful is to cut in half and pop out the pit; easiest fruit save blueberries...

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Have almost finished the nomad trousers, (a variation on Vogue 8499) all that is left to do is the handwork of stitching a bit of ribbon over the join between the loose trousers and snug embroidered cuffs. The pattern as drafted fits me fairly well; I did shift the two side leg darts up, so that they bracketed my actual knees, since the capri length pattern fits me like full length pants. The only other alteration I did was to reshape the crotch curve to eliminate the wedgie backside, which entailed simply scooping the seamline about 1cm. Seriously, the target demographic must have no bottoms!

I might actually make these again at some point, the integral pockets are great, and the fit is pretty comfortable. This pattern definitely requires a drapey fabric though, I used a rayon (ottoman?) with a tiny woven-in rib, in a bright periwinkle blue. Why ever did such a color end up in my fabric stash will remain forever a mystery?!?, but for a wearable muslin/SCA underlayer/lounge-wear pair of funky trousers, it will be just fine. Once finished this will be another item for Make and Mend 2012.

blossom smile some sunshine

Our plucky heroine has files of inspirational images, and the motifs on this stenciling tutorial were particularly tasty... Index cards are scattered hither and yon around Acorn Cottage, always handy for notes and sketches. Some doodles of possible neckline embellishments, and the lefthand one seemed like just the right one...

Traced the center front pattern piece and sketched out the central motif, as well as some stylised cherry blossoms. The initial sketch had a blossom located in an unfortunate position, which necessitated a second sketch, after some cut and past of the initial design elements. Added some circles to fill in and balance the motifs...

Have discovered that it is entirely possible to use wax paper instead of tracing paper, at a substantial savings. The only drawback is that it is not possible to sketch with pencil on the wax paper, but for many applications that is not necessary; what does work is to trace designs using a sharpie marker, the alcohol based ink dries fast and does not smear.

The design translated well into the chosen fabrics. Using freezer paper stenciling, the motifs were painted black, then running stitched in grey around the edges. Then it was somehow necessary to add detailing around the center of the blossoms - iridescent bugle beads were just what was needful! Once all that was stitched in place, most of the painted motif was cut away, carefully, leaving about 1/8" border

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The mystery plant seen on the beach this past weekend turns out to be Grindelia stricta (Puget Sound Gumweed), a west coast native. The plant apparently also has medicinal uses, particularly in treating poison oak. I love the internet, when my own search-fu is unsuccessful, there is always someone out there who knows more than I do... in this case I availed myself of the Flower Forums flower identification message board, and in less than two hours had the answer to my query...