old-school makerie

in which our plucky heroine plans another early bedtime...

The upcoming week will be busy. Among several many assorted other things that need to happen in the coming week, I plan on finishing the layout for my 2026 calendar and getting over to the copy store to get them all printed so I can mail out the ones to faraway, and have ready the ones I will be handing out in person. Today I finished inking the last of the 12 drawings, and also found the non-repro blue "layout" graph paper, so should be able to move steadily forward on this. All the month names, dates and days will be handwritten, as a statement: actual artwork by an actual human, using their actual hands (analog paste-up and design).

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~ day 4 ~

a pair of leaf shaped handmade kitchen knives, made by our plucky heroine herself more than 40 years ago, when she was a student at Evergreen... just like when I was the only senior girl in a high school wood shop class of freshman boys, once again the only woman in a class full of men. In the Evergreen tradition, we went around the circle introducing ourselves and sharing what we hoped to do/learn in the class. Among the various deep voices hoping to make "a hunting knife", or "a skinning knife" there was mine, higher pitched, hoping to make "a knife to cut vegetables..." All these years later, both knives still grace my kitchen.

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currently reading - "Turning Point 1997 - 2008", a book of (translated) interviews with Hayao Miyazaki. It is very interesting to read more about what this master animator/storyteller has had to say about his life and the thoughts behind and about his works.

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Ongoing housey lost and founds. I'd misplaced Nandina's little felt boots, which turned up today wedged under the edge of the laptop shelf!? Still hoping to find Opal's little Birkenstock sandals somewhere, since they are not in the tinyfolk houses, or in the picnic tote that holds their wardrobes. 

Then during Crafternoon went looking for my Foxpaws scarf and couldn't find it in any of the places I normally keep knitwear. I hope it turns up, it took months to knit. As to why was I looking for it in the first place, to show my Crafternoon pals, since I had self-indulgently bought a knitting pattern yesterday by the same designer (Xandy Peters) who used the same sort of motifs as edge borders on the shawl. 

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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	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- I found Nandina's missing boots.
- forecast for tomorrow is cold and damp but not active rain
- handmade tools that last a lifetime

Time of Isolation - Day 2016

a few tiny Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine is grateful for homegrown bounty...

The persimmons, picked before tree ripe (because squirrels) have been finally getting to the right stage to be peeled and cut into slices for the food dehydrator. Which is now humming away sitting on top of the washer. I shoved the bag of cement currently in residence there as far over to one side as safely possible to make space to run the dehydrator. There are enough additional persimmons on the folding table in the kitchen to do at least one or two additional batches once the current batch is dried. I also put aside 2 cups of pulp to make spiced persimmon pecan tea bread. 

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I started the "resipei" embroidery (in red on linen) project, and had to hold myself back from just doing that all the rest of the day. The difference once the stitchery follows the marked out lines is so satisfying. I'm using a single strand of the DMC floss, doubled; the stitched lines nice and thin, and chain stitch will smoothly follow the sharp curves of letters and words. This will see me through the December and into the new year at the very least.

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Currently re-reading Digger (the Omnibus Edition) by Ursula Vernon, and Basin and Range by John McPhee. Reading about geology is about as peaceful as reading cookbooks, when it comes to bedtime books. The omnibus Digger is much too LARGE a book to read in bed, but makes a nice mealtime companion. Very grateful to Mischa for sending it to me, back in the Before Times.

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

today's gratitudes -
- "Digger" by Ursula Vernon
- homegrown persimmons = homegrown sweetness
- Helga remembered I wanted eye dropsfrom Costco, they were on sale, but not in stock when we shopped a few weeks ago, so she picked some up for me today while she was there. 
- Gersvinda is going to give Ursel and I a lift from Metro Paint tomorrow. 

Time of Isolation - Day 1998

tiger carousel

in which our plucky heroine holds onto her composure...

The weather is heating up as we head towards several days of Extreme Heat Advisory, so I made sure to get outside early to water the things-in-pots and the young trees. Will do so again tomorrow, but now I'm hiding inside the house with the AC on.

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~ 13+ tiger-go-round ~

The printed tiger patches have cured long enough for stitching together and attaching to the hemline of the indigo tiger popover dress. Thirteen are not quite enough to span the hemline, so the fourteenth will either be a partial tiger, or just some blank black fabric to make up the difference. Still not sure what fabric will be best for the very bottom edge binding, but it has been run through the serger to keep it from fraying until that is sorted out...

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Two excellent books from local little free libraries: A Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell, and Calico The Wonder Horse, a childrens story by Virginia Lee Burton. The former I somehow missed reading in my younger days, though I was much enamored of the animal tales of Gerald Durrell. Gavin Maxwell's writing is really evocative, painting word pictures of a vanished world. The latter has wonderful graphic illustrations that call to mind the block printed style of the Folly Cove Designers, active from 1938 -1969, a group that was led by Virginia. 

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Though the bug bites on my legs look much like flea bites, I have no idea how a flea could have gotten into the house. There have been two flea traps* set on different nights in different places, with zero results. And so currently there are orange peels scattered about in likely spots, a great deal of vacuuming, and next may be some dusting of diatomaceous earth into the carpet. 

* a flea trap is made by setting a shallow pan of water with some dishes soap mixed in atop either a plant start mat or a cat warming mat overnight, the varmints are attracted to the heat, jump into the water and drown. 

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The storage trays are finished, and three of the four lids have been cut out and taped together. Next I'll use the gummed paper tape to finish the edges and reinforce the corners. It is going to be so great to have more of the empty jars neatly stored away instead of on the kitchen countertop. I just found a half dozen more half-pints on the worktable under a stack of fabric, which is so not where they belong!

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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 -
- the little Brother 1034D serger, a birthday gift in 2008, that has been every bit as much of a sturdy workhorse as it was reported to be, and still doing yeoman service here at Acorn Cottage. 
- I printed enough tiger trapezoids to make it most of the way around the hemline of the indigotiger popover dress
- two letters: AC (air conditioning)

Time of Isolation - Day 1846

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine has an overall better day...

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~ well begun ~

Given that the size of this block, at 6" x 8", is almost exponentially larger than my miniature book blocks, it is taking longer to carve. Particularly since my wrist is still sore from the weeks of wrangling my bicycle U-lock attempting to get it to unlock. Still, I think that the print will be fun, both to decorate the extended hemline on my indigo tiger popover dress, and it is just the right size to be a "patch" on a future pinafore pocket

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This morning, unlike last week, there was no problem connecting to the Kryptonite customer service, other than an ordinary amount of wait time. Even better, if all goes well they are shipping me a new U-lock! Not sure how long that will take, but it will be wonderful to be able to lock up my bike without worries and without needing to spend the rest of the day rubbing Voltaren anti-inflammation cream on my wrist.

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Am currently listening to the audiobook "The Book of Hope - A Survival Guide for Trying Times" by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams. I very much enjoy hearing books read by their authors, as this one is...Much food for thought, and have only listened to about 20% into the content so far.

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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	black floral scarf	prune² Wanda plum	greenwaste bin
3	4 jars strawberry- rhubarb preserves	mulch peartrees	greenwaste bin
4	sunblock mitts	Eames top	greenwaste bin
5	catch tarp for porch	filter box legs	recycle bin
6	x	new house roof	x
7	x	defrost chest freezer	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- knowing that the rainbow snake bench was there made heading out to catch the bus much nicer. Being able to sit down in a shady spot is really nice compared to standing on the concrete sidewalk in the sun.
- being able to nap when tired
- Kryptonite is going to send me a new U-lock
- the 1:12 miniature display shelf (1¼" square) that Sam printed out for me arrived in the mailbox here today. I am eager to find Very Tiny things to decorate it with...

Time of Isolation - Day 1827

Trapezoidal tiger

in which our plucky heroine prepares...

Tomorrow is the start of the roof replacement. Today an assortment of roof things were delivered to the side of the driveway, and a porta-potty on a tiny trailer is now in residence next to the driveway ramp. I still need to rearrange the front porch, so as to have suitable space for cold drinks and salty snacks. After chatting with Mikki this afternoon, I decided that adding some homemade cookies into the offerings would be a good idea, so am making quince crisp bars, being right out of any other suitable frozen fruit.

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~ just a sketch ~

My indigo tiger popover dress is too short. There are several possible fabric options for adding a bit of length. The turquoise rayon that could work is really too bright, compared to the printed fabric. In the end, it will probably be the black silk noil skirt taken from the lace top dress; cut into many trapezoids in an attempt to fill in the hemline. Inspired by some gift wrap I saw, and by the dress fabric motifs, this recent sketch will be transfered to either lino or soft-cut rubber, carved, then block printed in teal on the black, to best echo the smaller more varied indigo tigers on the dress...

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"The River Has Roots" by Amal El-Mohtar... not sure where the recommendation came from, but the story evokes a classic ballad while remaining original, and the writing is beautifully complimented by truly lovely illustrations. It was a pleasant surprise that the audiobook also goes beyond the ordinary, with sound effects and singing interspersed with the reading in a way that feels right rather than excessive. I enjoyed them both.

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So tired right now, even though it is only a bit after 6pm, and much too hot  try and re-energise with a walk or a bike ride. Had a very hard time falling asleep last night, and then woke a bit before sunrise. The good part of such early rising was getting the fans going, and being able to do a small amount of yard chores before it was time to hop on my bike to the medical center for my annual physical. Dr E suggested a bone density baseline test, given my age. I was appalled to find out that I was shorter than I had been last year, which is common, but distressing. Still, older is better than the alternative, at least for now!

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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	black floral scarf	prune² Wanda plum	greenwaste bin
3	4 jars strawberry- rhubarb preserves	mulch peartrees	greenwaste bin
4	sunblock mitts	Eames top	-
5	catch tarp for porch	filter box legs	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- it is 77°F in the living room, it is 100°F on the porch outside
- the audiobook of The River Has Roots has some delightful audio embellishment, sound effects and songs, in addition to the reading   
- I found the other folding table, hidden in plain sight in the workroom, the one that is about 2 ft by 4 ft. This will be very helpful tomorrow.

Time of Isolation - Day 1822

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine continues crepuscularity...

It is another hot day - about 96°F on the front porch again this afternoon. Some really early morning Wellington walkies, and a bike ride afterwards for more dinner salad ingredients, but by 8am even though it was only a bit more than 70°F according to the outdoor thermometer it felt hotter. 

The only pleasant thing about my morning ride was the scent of linden and jasmine, which bloom around this time of year, and are floral scents that smell absolutely delicious. La Fermiere even makes a jasmine yogurt, though it is hard to find locally. I suspect that in France, jasmine ice cream might be a thing, and I have heard of, but never tried, linden flower tea...

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~ rabbit rabbit rabbit ~

May leaping luck follow you all throughout the month of July!

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Tonight, after sundown but before full dark, on my bike near the Max line, and the subtle colors lit with neon signs and strands of LED, combined with the passing train cars all illuminated made the neighborhood look like an anime film, almost Miyazaki-esque. Tiny bits of whimsical beauty.

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This scroll for my friend Raven has been a project of incremental almost infinitesimal progress, but is now as complete as I can make it. We first started talking about design ideas all the way back in 2021, and I first began the process of learning a new calligraphic hand and laying out the lettering in January of 2023. Between then and now there has been effort in fits and starts, and the further along in the process, the slower it seemed to go, as I got tangled up in worrying that I'd make some grievous error and need to start again, or other imposter syndrome stories... 

Finally there was an internal shift, reminding self that Done is Better Than Perfect, and that Comparison is the Thief of Joy. I do love doing scribal artwork, and nowadays more than ever need that meditative space where hand and eye and self intersect. There are, if my count is right, another four scrolls I've promised to folks, (plus a replacement scroll for Countess E, of the one that I made years ago, that was lost in the post) I intend to put in some amount of time each week on these, and will hold fast to savoring the incremental completion.

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I've been currently reading the web serial: Super Supportive. It is a very long book, so far up to chapter 226, and I have been reading like a madwoman the last few days. It is unexpectedly enjoyable, as it is and isn't my type of story preference. The writer does a really good job of world building, and there are enough descriptive bits of daily life to keep me happy. I don't usually enjoy "teens at school stories, but Alden's challenges, both inward and interpersonal, are fascinating rather than tedious. I can imagine the tale as a graphic novel, done in the style of Moebius

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
- the scent of linden flowers
- a Scythian scroll completed, finally!!
- LED light strands make the neighborhoods look festive

Time of Isolation - Day 1807

a cut above...

in which our plucky heroine says goodbye...

...to the arborvitae that former owners planted much too close to the house. Should have removed them years ago, but hindsight is 20/20. Had Honl Tree Care come out and do the deed, they are excellent and careful workers.

The yard feels a bit peculiar right now, but not having trees literally mashed into the house will make tasks like getting the house painted much easier. And, the south half of the yard is sunnier, which bodes well for future food garden beds, at least in the short term. The half load of wood chips will be helpful in the back yard as well, for mulch and to partially smooth out the lumpy areas.

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~ several hours this afternoon ~

truck and chipper taking the alleyway to backyard


they opened the alley gate for better access


assorted tools used: hand pruning saws, chain saws, pole
chain saw, as well as climbing spikes and ropes for safety


The smaller clump was the first to go


The larger clump needed a different approach


bit by careful bit, it all came down... away
from the yard fencing or the phone lines


both arborvitae clumps cut back to 6'


many chips dropped in backyard, this will
save me innumerable trips back and forth
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Just read the novella "The River Has Roots" by Amal El-Mohtar - it is an exquisitely written gem of a tale (with gorgeous illustrations by Kathleen Neeley) in the fairytale/mythology genre. I might need to own this book.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	blue skirt Opal	shipova planted	yard waste bin
2	2 pr undies toiles	smoothed half of side gate base	recycle bin
3	-	got TDaP vaccine	yard waste bin
4	-	persimmon mulched	recycle bin
5	-	pruned figs	2 arborvitae
6	x	2024 taxes	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Honl was willing to move the chipper into the alley, which meant they could dump the load of chips into the backyard, saving my having to make innumerable trips back and forth from the driveway with 5 gallon buckets!
- a surprise drive by hello from Gersvinda and Ursel
- 5 flavor eggplant, so yummy
- all the large trunks of the arborvitae clusters are cut off at about 6 ft, which means I can use them as Useful Posts for things like attaching clothesline. The trunks that were really close to the house were removed, which will make eventual house painting easier

Time of Isolation - Day 1732

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine is full of designs...

and today I trust that my cold is really fully on the mend, as my energy is beginning to return. Since it was the last day for a while without rain, I chose to head over to Ikea for a most self-indulgent treat, a whimsical glowing Dala horse lamp. Which turned out to be a fairly frugal indulgence, since it was marked down to $7.99! It will make a good nightlight for the hallway here at Acorn Cottage

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~ believe ~

The random carousel that is my designerly brain tossed this image to me earlier this week as I was drifting off to sleep. I had to immediately leap out of bed and do a quick sketch, lest the concept be lost before the next day. This idea will become number 4 in my "Making Art For A Change" series...

I did three postcard size block prints back in 2020 and 2021 as the start of the series. My idea was to have folks contribute to a particular cause, and in exchange, I would mail them an art postcard. A sort of triangular good works... they get a bit of original sart and can deduct the donation, a good organisation gets some extra money, and I get to help facilitate more donation than I could on my own, by sharing my creativity

Back then I had folks donate to "Don't Shoot Portland" which was a black led group working for social justice, while PDX was in the middle of being occupied by police and paramilitary disruption because of the protests happening

Nowadays, there are so very many directions that are being damaged both on purpose and from inherent change to the planet I am a bit at a loss to suggest just one group... I have some time to think about it though

.
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I was surprised to find out that John D. MacDonald, known for the Travis McGee series, as well as other writings, wrote a book "The House Guests" about the two cats he lived with! I had no idea, and when it turned up in my Libby app in the "if you liked James Herriot we recommend these other books..." I was curious. Turns out that I have no cognitive issues with reading at all, I just get bored and DNF if the writing is poor. MacDonald is an excellent wordsmith and storyteller (I already knew this), and though I would not normally have put "cat biographies" as one of my preferred reading genres, it was a most enjoyable book.

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I'm wanting to rearrange various storage aspects here, but being stymied by lack of infrastructure, which has been a sore point for nigh on the last twenty years, ever since I moved here. Part of the solution is to discard or give away what is not being used, but for things that are in regular use, needs must to somehow rearrange current spaces and create some small cabinets or shelves to better use the easy-to-reach spaces towards the back of the countertops. Were I taller, the upper cabinets would be more accessible. As is, I can barely reach the back of the very lowest shelf, or the front of the next, so am forever folding and unfolding the stepladder.

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February SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
1. Whilst zooming with Ursel, we somehow stumbled upon the whimsical Dala horse translucent light from Ikea
2. the self checkout attendant at Ikea was not helpful at all, but the customer service clerk was a gem... able to track down my venerable "Ikea Family" card, (issued before I had a mobile phone) and thereby saved me more than half the cost of my purchase (two Dala horses - one for me and one for a friend)
3. creative designing brain is conjuring up various possibilities for artwork as well as for small home improvements.
4. - Stef's surgery went well today, huzzah!!

Time of Isolation - Day 1680

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine indulges in heartfelt creativity ...

Now that Wellington has gone home, I find myself looking towards the chair that he usually inhabits with a sense of loss. Companionship, however briefly found, is a sad thing to lose.

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~ tiny valentines ~

This afternoon I made three 1" sq handpainted valentines, and matching envelopes made from laminated origami paper. For the tiny folk that live with Kestrel in Olympia, from the tiny folks that live here, these will be sent out in Monday's post.

The owl says "OWL always want you for my valentine!"... The bee says "please BEE my valentine?"... The fish says "you are my o-FISH-ial valentine pal!"

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A week and a half ago, after finding this tutorial to make spun cotton hearts, I glued up their armatures from Q-tips. Tonight I mixed white glue with water and began to adhere the first layer of cotton. It really is pleasing how quickly even a thin layer of fiber turns them into heart shapes. Rather than bake them in the oven, I will just let them dry naturally overnight and see how they look.

These will, once all the layers and decoration are completed, become a set of ornaments for the Advent Swap at the end of the year. So far I have six rainbow fibulae for January, and these hearts will be for February. If steady progress happens, I will be prepared by October with enough for two complete sets of tiny gifts.

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This afternoon I started a new audiobook "Remarkably Bright Creatures"... Only on the second chapter so far; hopefully it will continue enjoyable and I will be able to add it to my list of books for this year.

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February SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
1. Clover wonder clips for sewing (instead of pins)
2. free tutorials on YouTube for all sorts of makerie
3. I enjoy doing "spun cotton" as a sort of easy inexpensive sculptural activity, and making things for the future Advent Swap is a way to tell myself I believe there will be at least that much future!

Time of Isolation - Day 1668

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine makes slow if steady progress...

This morning I noticed the snowdrops blooming. If it hadn't been so damp, and very cold, I might have tried to kneel down and take their picture, but they are nonetheless a cheering sign that spring will eventually show up. The pink hellebore shows signs of eventual buds, but nothing much yet.

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~ part of the cloverleaf ~
.

Yesterday I did a dry run to the county offices... the directions have you get off at a really odd bus stop literally in the middle of a cloverleaf on ramp, but there is a narrow walkway that continues to the actual sidewalk. Glad I checked it out ahead of time!

Consequently the trip to the passport acceptance office today had no surprises. I arrived about half an hour early, but since things were going smoothly, my number was called immediately. All my paperwork was in order, and the clerk even complimented me on my "tidy handwriting". If all goes well, I should get my old passport back fairly soon, and the new one following on a few weeks after that.

The photos show where the bus first leaves one off, and then once the peculiar interesection has been traversed, looking west across the street at a different part of the complicated roadway interchange heading onto the Hawthorne Bridge. Not sure what the story is about the large openwork sculpture...

※※※

Since I was out and about on transit anyway, I spent another few hours going all the way to Mill Ends, as they had some specialty waterproof fabric that I needed a half yard of for a particular experimental project. I resisted the temptation to wander about the store lest I be tempted to add more "someday" fabric to my already abundant resource shelves.

※※※

Not only did I make a fresh blue tape "pattern" for the full length narrow leg long janes, but I also found the previous iteration of the very same thing! I suppose now I needs must try each of them, to find out what works best. Fortunately I still have some cotton jersey sheets to make samples from.

※※※

I've read five books so far this month, which doesn't include books I started and decided not to read. Now that I have figured out a bit about was making reading less enjoyable, and conversely what I do like, I feel free to not finish books. Overall, I seem to prefer "character-driven" to plot-driven fiction; if I don't find the characters engaging, reading seems pointless. Hopepunk rather than grimdark, always. I retain hope for F/SF labeled "cozy" but most (though not all) of what I've perused with that label has been more like "romance + nonhumans" and I am not terribly drawn to romance novels.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	blood orange marmalade	bike headlamp	yard waste bin
2	heraldic enamel	passport photo	recycle bin
3	crayon roll	crystal necklace	recycle bin
4	xp2 undies	pattern longjanes	-
5	-	passport applied for	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. I took the time yesterday to do a dry run of the bus routes to get to the county offices... made today's actual trip easier
2. snowdrops are the very first frontyard flowers to return each year...
3. The passport office clerk admired my tidy handwriting

Time of Isolation - Day 1645

septugenaria

in which our plucky heroine says hippo birdy to me...

and how did I not notice that I have the same birthday as Will Stanton? I have read "The Dark Is Rising" by Susan Cooper every year as a seasonal ritual since I was first introduced to it... Now there is also a beautifully done BBC radio drama in twelve parts, and I have also been listening to the chapters as I do my morning chores...

※※※

This is just plain lovely... happy Solstice one and all!

※※※

"And so the Shortest Day came
and the year died.
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year."

~ Susan Cooper

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I ordered my favorite Grateful Dead album "American Beauty" as a CD (from their webshop so as to bypass the Behemoth), and it arrived today, a timely birthday treat!

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I had been really hoping to get one of the pretty koi ornaments as one of my Advent Swap treats, et voila! The silvery colors of this fish are perfectly complimented with the sparkle of the golden and translucent beads.

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some experiments are more successful than others... I wanted braised oxtail for a special rare treat, for dinner tonight, but the store said none available til January at the soonest. (and they didn't have any black cod, which is my other special rare treat)

The butcher suggested using a piece of beef short rib instead as a likely substitute. Cooked with the same recipe as I would have the oxtail, it filled a similar niche for flavor, but shrunk to about half the original size in the cooking! The texture was more like brisket than succulent oxtail.

Given that I almost never splurge on beef, I think that if/when I do that again, I will simply get a tiny bit of bavette steak, cut it into crosswise strips and add it to a veggie stir fry. More bang for the flavor buck, as it were...

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~ Solstice sweets ~

After seeing the little cakes Beth made, I wanted to also make something sweet and sunlike for Solstice, but didn't feel up to making pastry. Karen explained how simple shortbread is to make, and since I'd never made it before, I gave it a try. 1 part sugar : 2 parts butter : 4 parts flour. I used gluten free baking mix, pressed the mixture into the bottoms of silicone cupcake liners, and baked in the convection oven for 20 minutes at just under 300F. Filled them with some blood orange marmalade. I particularly like how the corrugated liners left a decorative pattern on the sides of the shortbread.

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	rainbow cowl tassels	more clothesline	recycle bin
2	85 origami squares	cardboard down	random book parts
3	heraldic potholders	set up paperwhites	recycle bin
4	pine needle stars	grey linen pinafore	yard waste bin
5	solstice sweets	bandanna hem	yard waste bin
6	x	x	recycle bin
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. solstice sweets: shortbread tarts filled with marmalade
2. several short sweet zooms with friends and family
3. Grateful Dead, studio or live...

Time of Isolation - Day 1620

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine does her duty as a citizen...

...I voted, and decided to take my ballot to the public library because they have an indoor locked ballot deposit box, given the appalling arson vandalism of outdoor ballot boxes in both WA and OR. I doubt that (at least currently ) anyone is going to light a deposit box on fire INSIDE the library, so it felt like a more secure if less convenient option...

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~ almost here ~

Alphabet noodles - they are not just for soup... one of the things I am making (for the Tiny Rag Doll Nation "Spooky Season" prize collection) is another miniature holiday bunting, but a bit different style than the one above... Instead of gluing letters directly to the thread, I have added many little paper flags first, then glued the "trick or treat"to each individual one.

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I managed to get to the Hollywood Farmer's Market on Saturday, and bought some "Habanada" peppers to try... they have a unique flavor, complex but not hot, and I want to try lacto-fermenting them. Also try out some of the lower bok choy stems, that are thick and crisp, but not hard like carrots.

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currently reading:

The Art of Dying Well by Katy Butler... I read this a number of years ago, and found it valuable enough to keep in my own library. Now that I am having to deal with various aspects of aging, advance directive updates and the complexity of my parent's legacy, it is obvious to me that a re-read would be useful, but it is proving more difficult going, as the topics covered are more immediately relevant. The book talks about the various stages of "as we age" and things to think about as  good to prepare in our thoughts and in our actions, and how we set up our surroundings both internal and external.

and Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway (a guide to home-scale permaculture) This book is so full of content that I know it will take me a while to even begin to digest the ideas. I am pleased to find out that there is a whole concept, that of the "keyhole" that explains the vague idea I was trying to articulate about how I wished the outside of my house was structured. I suspect that I will learn a lot in the reading and re-reading

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Most of the mutual aid apples were turned into applesauce, which will be most welcome addition to meals this winter.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ScribeTober 1	removed frost	yard waste bin
2	blue wolf enamel	prune persimmon	old light crap
3	shibori scarf	tidy walking onions	recycle bin
4	robin and holly acorn cap ornaments	string trim parking strip	yard waste bin
5	Kenya skirt	long jane waistband	recycle bin
6	pumpkin overalls	black winter slip	yard waste bin
7	Textile Livestock	harvested quince	recycle bin
8	applesauce	pruned apple	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. a surprise porch visit from Ashe and his family! (I got to meet Mackayla and Isao!!)
2. Heather came down to PDX this weekend, and brought me some more of her excellent sourdough bread
3. my Fiskars papercutter is very useful

Time of Isolation - Day 1568

Thursday things

in which our plucky heroine notes what progress has happened...

I'm going to take a break from millinery (for the time being) and return to garments that have been on the back burner: a new summer popover dress from this pretty teal rayon batik, and finishing the raincoat project (time to make some sample frogs for that)

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~ more than half done ~

I have been modifying the "official" chosen garments of the wardrobe challenge to suit my preferences, though still following the overall plan of the Vivienne Files "Whatever's Clean 13" which is what inspired the challenge in the first place...

• Week 1 - slightly gathered skirt (straight skirt)
• Week 2 - knit top
• Week 3 - reversible flared skirt
• Week 4 - reversible sleeveless top
• Week 5 - knit vest (short sleeved cardigan)
• Week 6 - pants
• Week 7 - reversible sleeveless top (reversible camisole)
• Week 8 - poncho (shrug)

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Naomi Kritzer won two Hugo awards this year: Best Novelette "The Year Without Sunshine", and Best Short Story "Better Living Through Algorithms". Both well worth the time, links go to online reading ...

Also T Kingfisher won Best Novella for "Thornhedge" and Moniquill Blackgoose won the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book for "To Shape a Dragon’s Breath", both of which I borrowed from the library and enjoyed very much. Moniquell Blackgoose has a unique take on the boarding school trope that I found so satisfying I am eagerly awaiting the next book in her intended trilogy (this despite that I normally have less than no use for boarding school tales)... T Kingfisher has been a favorite writer of mine since I first discovered her as Ursula Vernon via the graphic novel "Digger"

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When I headed out for my morning bike ride, it was bin day in the adjacent zone, and I saw a pile of large cardboard shipping boxes on the street, topped with an enormous piece of pristine foamcore. I turned around, rode back home, and returned on foot with my folding luggage cart. The trucks were on the next block, so I hurried to bundle all the boxes and foamcore on the cart, and toddled off back to Acorn Cottage.

The big sheets of cardboard will be an excellent base to put underneath mulch, and foamcore, which I use in various crafts and miniature building, as well as when matting pictures to be framed, has become quite spendy. The edges of the boxes can go into my own wheelie bins for tomorrow's recycle pickup.

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 pillowcases	nut chopper handle	yard waste bin
2	yak print	elderberry harvest	plum tree
3	tiny bell-bottoms	refurbish Felco	driveway moss
4	tiny camisole	-	recycle bin
5	small pressing tools	-	yard waste bin
6	tiny playset	x	x
7	denim hat	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. Foraged/salvaged cardboard and foamcore! I am not too proud to snag discarded but useful materials
2. The vitamin D I ordered last week arrived with the shipping carton crushed, but fortunately the corn foam peanuts inside cushioned the contents so that there was no internal damage.
3. I am really enjoying playing Golden Sky Stories with my southern pals Mischa and Steff...

Time of Isolation - Day 1496

recent reading and other random bits

in which our plucky heroine is bemused...

I've begun to read Shirley Hughes' autobiography "A Life Drawing", and am enjoying it very much. One small surprising factoid is that when she was a student at Oxford, she lived next door to Tolkien! 

I recently finished reading "Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern", which was delightful; it connected her clothing (much of which she made herself), her home(s), and her lifestyle with her artwork, as they were all informed by her distinctive point of view.

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~ chalked cat head ~

This cat head is more than a yard in diameter, taking up almost all the driveway ramp in someone's yard. Is it not wonderful and whimsical? I am wondering if it is a portrait. I particularly love the righthand ear, how the blue eye patch just continues onto the ear, but only part way...

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Cathy sent me this video, of a very simple dress all made from asymmetical patchwork. The style reminds me of my own popover dresses, and of the Japanese pattern that was their inspiration. I think this might be a clever way to use wonderful fabric pieces that are much too small to make a whole garment, without looking too much like the Patchwork Girl of Oz

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~ 1¾ # black elderberry clusters ~

Yesterday in the cooler part of the early morning, I went out to pick elderberries... cutting off as many clusters of ripe berries as I could reach. (The upper part of the elderberry has already had many hungry avian visitors...) There were many more berries this year than in any previous year, enough that I'm going to try making immune support elderberry syrup.

My pal Leslie suggested freezing them first, to avoid crushing berries when removing from the stems, so these are all now in the chest freezer. They can safely wait there until the weather is a bit cooler, when simmering the syrup and boiling the jars will be more appealing...

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I started making another dolly playsuit, this one for Kestrel's tiny folks. I wanted to experiment with Dawn's reversible camisole pattern, which has a different shape and construction than Ann Wood's camisole. I think the sewing is easier, if still fussy at 1:12 scale. My first attempt at patterning turned out wearable, but I think it needs to be just a bit wider in the front bodice. Might have to make another playsuit set (pants and camisole top) just to test that out.

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 pillowcases	nut chopper handle	-
2	yak print	elderberry harvest	-
3	tiny bell-bottoms	-	-
4	tiny camisole	-	-
5	small pressing tools	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes - 
1. Salad Nicoise sans lettuce is still good
2. Advent swap just gained another participant, that makes 20 total!!
3. I had been wondering where to store the tiny pressing tools, then I realised I could just tuck them into my bentwood sewing box!
4. harvested 1¾ # black elderberry clusters! Now in freezer awaiting de-stemming and turning into immune tonic syrup

Time of Isolation - Day 1488

napping is the better option

in which our plucky heroine recovers from a bit of foolishness...

Last night I stayed up far too late reading. I try not to do that, but sometimes it is just too tempting. That I have read two* new to me books so far this year that were such a pleasure to read has to be some kind of personal record, whatever havoc it has wreaked on my sleep schedule.

That said, only four hours of sleep meant I was not at the top of my form today... after my midday trek through the pouring rain to the pharmacy to get vaccinated for RSV I was so exhausted that hand sewing snaps became just too difficult. I was just sitting there staring at the snap I had just stitched on the wrong side of the fabric, and decided that napping was the better idea. Four hours later...

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~ week 1 and then day 9 ~

I'd meant to share the first week, and how the filled up page looked, but the weekend was rather busy. Today was just a bit of an imaginary bird. I realise I don't have a have no good grasp on how birds are put together; my sketches tend to all start out looking mostly like the very stylised birds on the cover of the 60's paperback edition of Lord of the Rings. Perhaps a bit of research in a field guide is in order...

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The consensus among my Sewing Nomad pals is that I should just go for it, rethread my serger with the teal thread, and make up the new top for myself... I can return to the "sewing for others" with renewed vigor, and a bit more color in my life. Not going to argue, that sounds like a good idea, and sewing up a new knit top is fast and easy, one benefit of TNT patterns.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Jedi obi sash	reinstall octopus	-
2	Jedi underlayer	hang candle lantern	-
3	2 tiny books	paint tiger frame	-
4	-	patch closet holes	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. when in doubt, bouillon... between a four hour nap, and a tummy with collywobbles, there was no dinner today, but a cup of warm broth was soothing, warming, and a safe option
2. I can take a nap when I am exhausted, and return to my everyday life and work once better rested
3. TNT patterns that are a doddle to sew, since I've already worked out all the difficulty prior to the project. It must have been almost twenty years ago that I decided I needed a knit top that fit my body. I remember it took four or five tries, and the pattern I ended up with looks nothing like a bog standard tee in the body, but I've been wearing garments made from that pattern every since.

Time of Isolation - Day 1286

* Mink River by Brian Doyle, and A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

not an oxymoron

in which our plucky heroine discovers and rediscovers some things...

While I don't have the design in my mind yet, I now have a concept connected to my prompt of "thrilling reverie": Outer Space (possibly including space travel) This is for the upcoming Enamel Art Jam. I was out riding my bike and it just leapt into my imagination I've been struggling to come up with how to connect such two words that feel like an oxymoron to me. Thank you brain, for doing such a good job of cogitation!

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~ 100 day stitch book project - day 48 ~

Day 48/100 (page 10) Added some indigo batik pieces to the composition, and then decided to cut some small half circles from a scrap of quilting cotton. I may restitch the indigo batik with a different color floss, as the gold color feels too obtrusive, those might be better in a light grey or a light blue...

~ 100 day stitch book project - day 47 ~

When a scrap of felt that had been caught with my other scraps dropped on page 10, it gave me an entirely new direction. Though rather than use the really thick (⅛") felt scrap, I recut the shape from a bit of thin indigo, and added a few square-ish spots for accents...

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Oh such a tasty lunch... a black cod fillet in browned butter, along with a few asparagus spears. Black cod aka sablefish, is probably my favorite fish, and fish at all is a rare treat.

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Norah Gaughan's "Twisted Stitch Sourcebook", discovered as a reference (mentioned in the notes on Kate Davies Carp-beth sweater) and currently on loan from the public library, has been added to my list of Very Useful books. It is tempting me start on a new cardigan, despite that I have not completed the lopapeysa I already have the yarn for. It would be excellent to have a texture patterned cardigan, unlike any of my other handknits...

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Ugh! ... shortly after I awoke on Tuesday, my vision was disturbed by the unmistakable signs of another ocular migraine. Which rather put paid to any activity that required clear sight, at least for a while. Ah well, washing a rack of dishes is not dependent on seeing every little detail, and neither is folding laundry and putting it away, so the morning is not a total loss.

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perusing the "always available" list of audiobooks on the library website, I found "The Book of Difficult Fruit" which so far has been a pretty delightful listen. While I am only on chapter 4 - "D" (durian), it will be good company while doing housey chores.

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	page 9	chore jacket snaps	recycle bin
2	-	rain capelet neckline	yard waste bin
3	-	Stanley power strip	ceiling fan blades
4	-	-	more ceiling fan blades
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. my brain, which like a good pet, eventually does what I ask of it   
2. a package of Brazilian Cheese Bread found at the bottom of the chest freezer. I had forgotten how tasty they are, and being made from tapioca flour, they are gluten free as well... I want to look up how to make them myself...
3. central heating

Time of Isolation - Day 1094