Along the narrow north side of the yard here at Acorn Cottage there is a concrete pathway bordered by a chain link fence. Years ago it seemed good to attach some brackets to the fenceposts and support clothesline (the brackets last, the line needs replaced every few years) In the narrow space between the path and the chain link, various weedy things grow, and usually get clipped back when they encroach on the vertical space reserved for laundry.
There is, among the cat's ears and rapunzel, a sizeable patch of some feral variety of mint. It never gets watered, so it spreads Very Slowly indeed; in twenty years it has maybe doubled in size and still only a few feet long. Brushing against it is a small pleasant sensory experience. For the last few weeks it has grown taller and been blooming like mad, making necessary a bit more thought than usual to laundry placement, since much to my delight it is very much a pollinator magnet. There are honeybees, probably from the hives a few door down the street, but also what look a bit like miniature hornets, but are likely to be hover flies according to the internet, and also some unusual wasps. I move carefully around that part of the path, doing my best to not disturb the insect folks who are so hard at work.
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~ a prime number ~
Each tray holds one dozen wide mouth pints or half-pints... or nineteen quarter-pints or narrow-mouth half-pints. The lidded trays will be stored underneath the sideboard and bakers rack in the kitchen. Once the four storage trays and fitted lids are all fabricated, any remaining jars can be stored in delivery boxes in the pantry area (I'll probably turn those boxes inside out as well, because plain kraft paper is nicer than adverts). ~ a prime number ~
The big roll of gummed paper tape that turned up on the hardware shelves will be very useful indeed, both for reinforcing the lid edges, and sealing up the open corrugations. The last step will be an internal grid to keep each jar just a bit separated, and it may be that a salvage trip to Trader Joe's will serve that purpose very well, at least it is worth taking a looksee to check sizes, since they always have a huge stack of wine boxes to give away.
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The last few days, there is a droning whine whenever I'm outdoors. It is racing season at PIR, and even though it is on the other side of the slough, it is loud. I can't imagine what it must be like for folks who live closer. There are many who enjoy that activity, as either participants or spectators, but all it brings to my mind is how finite a resource petroleum is, and of the many vital uses it could be put to, the decadence of just burning it for amusement
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Eventually the jar storage trays will have handles, to aid in pulling them out from underneath. Karen showed me some that she had made by braiding remnants, and using lid plastic scrap as washers to prevent pulling through the cardboard. It occurred to me today that I have a wonderful assortment of colors of wide twill tape, that will be ideal for making handles, needing only to be folded over once or twice and stitched to be really sturdy. In a house full of stuff that "may be useful for something, someday" once in a while, that something someday actually happens!
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August SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | 4 jar storage trays | tiger block | greenwaste bin |
| 2 | - | bright rayon top width | recycle bin |
| 3 | - | - | recycle bin |
| 4 | - | - | window AC |
| 5 | - | - | - |
| 6 | x | x | x |
| 7 | x | x | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
today's gratitudes -
- found an entire LARGE roll of gummed paper tape in storage!
- Feral mint is a wonderful attractant for pollinators
- an assortment of various colors of twill tape
Time of Isolation - Day 1845
