Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine...

Spent enough so much time Sunday combining the various "cats invade" images into a single page printable image, that by the time I finished the local copy shops were all closed. My plan is to make a miniature "large scale art book", at 1½" tall it would be about an 18" full size book. It will be an edition of at least two, since my miniature library needs a copy in addition to the one I plan to send to Kestrel

Guess a miniature coffee table will also be needed! For some reason I've been imagining something midcentury style with a partial mosaic tabletop, (maybe using the colored eggshells I've been saving) Time for more image research, maybe Sunset Magazine's "Furniture You Can Build" will have something inspiring?

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~ well worth it ~

I rode again to the St Johns Library this morning, inspired by the most recent post in "Slowpoke", Carson Ellis' substack journal. She mentioned that there were coloring sheets available, which sounded like fun. Her post has much better photos and information about the mural in the children's room as well.  While the librarian was busy tracking down where the coloring pages were, I looked carefully at the other details of the remodel I'd missed on my first visit, things that my pal Ursel (the architect) had mentioned, like the ceiling treatments in the transition hallway. Overall I am really glad seeing "our tax dollars at work" as refurbishing and making more accessible and beautiful such a needful public good as libraries makes me happy.

(photo above is of a small detail on one of the two new colorful outdoor sculptures at the St Johns Library)

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Discovered Adam Cleevely's conversation with Xandy Peters a wide ranging interview. I'm going to have to check out more of Adam's podcasts. I was a tiny bit familiar with Xandy Peters since knitting their renowned pattern Fox Paws back in 2014...

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My old overalls pattern has some very mysterious leg gusset pattern pieces that it isn't clear to me perzactly how they join the rest of the legs. My original overalls made from this pattern are long gone, but hoping that the oldest pair of overalls I made for Beth years ago will maybe have helpful information. Karen and I plan to look tomorrow during our regular Tuesday video chat.

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- an almost two hour phone call with dear friend Rois
- beautiful beads for future froggies arrived today 
- I found some Japanese-style printmaking paper at the art store today that should work well for pages in the "Cats Invade" tiny book

Time of Isolation - Day 2191

Tuesday trinkets and treats

in which our plucky heroine has a pleasant surprise...

FOUND!! My beloved retractable tape measure, long missing, turned up in, of all peculiar places, between the crock pot liner and the crock pot! When plugged in to start warming up (while prepping remains of last night's chicken legs to make broth for tom kha gai) noticed the inner pot was sitting all cattywhompus, so before it got hot enough to damage the plastic measuring tape housing it was back in the sewing box where it normally lived, and the broth was able to cook properly

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~ peony ~

Not in my yard, but walking (or biking) around the neighborhood there are all sorts of delights for sight and smell. Roses blooming, and fragrant wisteria... Right now the honeybees are so fond of the sage blossoms that they are loud when walking toward the front door

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I had forgotten the Haptic and Hue podcasts, when a post turned up on one of my social media feeds for their recent presentation about the Folly Cove Designers. Not only was that a treat to listen to, but now there is a lot more content for me to enjoy listening to

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As a way to supplement my earthquake shelf, ordered two new bulk food powders to try: coconut milk, and cheddar cheese sauce. it occurred to me that it might be possible to get some of the dried cheese sauce most often found in little aluminum packets inside boxes of Annies mac, or Kraft dinner. A pound bag was worth the taste test. As was pound of dried coconut milk; since it usually comes in largish cans too big for when I make dinner for one. Yes, I freeze the rest in cubes for future use, but it would be very handy to have some shelf-stable option in the pantry . 

The cheese sauce is tasty, (tried that one with rice pasta the day it arrived) and doesn't taste near as salty as the tiny packets. It will do nicely for pasta or other starch or for veggie sauce, even not in an emergency, as will the dry coconut milk, which worked out very well in dinner tonight (faux tom kha kai) Lots of substitutions but a tasty dinner anyway. Ginger instead of galingale, fresh lime zest and juice instead of makrut leaves, brown sugar instead of palm sugar, some red thai curry paste instead of fresh chilies, and the new powdered coconut milk (very easy to rehydrate by shaking 3 tablespoons in a jar with ¼ cup water. The soup was a treat, and there are two more portions for tomorrow and/or the freezer.

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Last week was the annual five days of "Making Zen": free online workshops, and Selina Ben's "Unwritten Folded Treasure Pouch" tutorial was appealing enough that it will be my next small handwork project. Combining as it does almost origami-esque folded design, and a new-to-me decorative fastening stitch, it will be another good use for small pieces of special fabrics.

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	Bad Smell gone	greenwaste bin
2	boro thread basket	-	recycle bin
3	boro basket 2	-	-
4	boro basket 3	-	-
5	boro basket 4	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Good podcasts to listen to.
- Lovely scented seasonal flowers, particularly roses and wisteria.
- long missing beloved tape measure found
- honeybees love the sage blossoms
- faux Tom Kha Gai soup
- finished cutting out landscape blouse

Time of Isolation - Day 2132