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

fragments and snippets

in which our plucky heroine accidentally sleeps in...

Somehow forgot to set the alarm clock last night, so slept in until well past time for our fortnightly sewing zoom. Which fortunately was still happening when I signed in, so I was able to see all the usual suspects as well as Glenda who just joined us. Always an inspiration to meet with friends online...

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~ day 12 and 13 ~
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Two more tiny treats... yesterday was a very small painting of fish attached to a magnet, and today was a carved crystal bead in the shape of a turtle.

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Yesterday I rode my bike to the hardware store to use the $5 discount coupon to help pay for a food grade storage bucket. My recently acquired 10# bag of lentils will be happier stored more securely. As, like yesterday, today was another unseasonably dry warm day, this afternoon I headed out to TAP Plastics to get a Gamma lid for said new storage bucket. (Gamma lids are wonderful! They are a two-piece secure mostly airtight lid for 3½ or 5 gallon buckets. The outer ring snaps into place, and the inner disc is threaded and easy to spin open and closed) I am tempted to invest in a number of bucket and lid combinations for water storage, as it would be eversomuch easier to deal with than other suggested options...

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I really want to turn Kestrel's kid art: "resipei for straberie ice cubs" into an embroidered panel to hang in the kitchen here at Acorn Cottage, which requires my transferring both 8½  x 11" pages of drawings onto the fabric.  A bit large for me to tape to a window and trace. It was possible long ago to buy a transfer pencil that let you draw on the reverse side and iron your motif(s) on fabric, but no one local has that particular writing implement. Then I remembered that several years ago, when sewing my quarter circle Viking banner, I did some sort of DIY blue transfer ink  made from sugar syrup and paste food coloring. Given that was a successful solution, my intention is to do it again, and take notes for future reference. Always useful to have an alternative option that does not require purchasing additional supplies!

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I didn't write this essay, but it makes some very important points and is worth reading...

" In the United States, the problem is not that people cannot read. It is that fewer and fewer people can remain with what they are reading long enough to understand it. We live inside words. Contracts, portals, policies, emails, headlines, warnings. And yet comprehension is slipping through our fingers. The nation that insists it runs on information is quietly losing the ability to sit with meaning.

America continues to reassure itself with a comforting statistic. By the most permissive definition, adult literacy in the United States exceeds 99 percent. That number measures the ability to read and write a simple sentence. It does not measure whether someone can understand a lease, a medical consent form, a ballot initiative, or an economic argument. When literacy is measured as functional literacy, the ability to use written language to navigate modern life, the picture darkens. Roughly 130 million American adults read below a sixth grade level. About one in five struggles so significantly that reading becomes an obstacle rather than a tool.

Federal assessments confirm that this is not a marginal issue. Nearly 28 percent of American adults perform at the lowest levels of literacy proficiency, meaning they have difficulty locating basic information in short texts. Even more unsettling, average adult literacy scores declined sharply between 2017 and 2023. This is not stagnation. It is regression.

This decline shows itself in small, dispiriting ways. I see it every time I publish a long form essay. Readers often engage with the first few sentences and then stop. Some comment that the piece is too long. Others argue passionately against claims I never made. The conversation detaches from the text almost immediately, as if the act of sustained reading itself has become too heavy to carry. What follows is not debate, but projection.

One example lingers because it was so clean. I wrote about a CNBC economic interview in which McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski described declining traffic among lower and lower middle income consumers. His point was stark. People under financial pressure were eating out less, even at fast food restaurants built on affordability. He framed it as evidence of a two tier economy. The essay did not argue about whether fast food was a good deal. It examined what it means when people who once relied on it no longer can. Yet many responses angrily rebutted a value argument that never appeared. The text itself went largely unread.

This is not a failure of manners. It is a failure of reading. It reflects the erosion of deep reading, the ability to follow an argument across paragraphs, hold context, and distinguish between what is written and what is assumed. When readers cannot do this, public discourse becomes hollow. Arguments float free of evidence. Meaning collapses into vibes.

The educational pipeline offers little comfort. Reading scores among American students have fallen to their lowest levels in decades. By the end of high school, fewer than one third of students meet proficiency benchmarks. These declines began long before the pandemic and continued through it. The damage was already done. COVID merely exposed it.

Literacy is often discussed as an educational outcome. It is something far more foundational. Low literacy shapes who can protect themselves in systems that do not slow down. Adults with low reading proficiency face higher unemployment, worse health outcomes, and diminished civic participation. Economists estimate that low literacy costs the United States trillions of dollars each year in lost productivity and increased public spending. But numbers do not capture the quiet humiliation of not understanding the document that governs your body, your home, or your job.

Literacy also maps neatly onto inequality. Communities with underfunded schools, limited libraries, and scarce adult education programs show the lowest proficiency rates. Literacy does not exist apart from material conditions. It rises where stability exists and falls where life is precarious. When people are exhausted, anxious, or scrambling to survive, reading becomes harder, not because intelligence disappears, but because attention does.

There is a cruel paradox here. Americans are surrounded by more text than any generation before. Notifications, disclaimers, captions, feeds. Words everywhere. What has vanished is patience. Digital environments train us to skim, to react, to scan for affirmation or threat. At the same time, institutions continue to raise the complexity of what they demand we read. Contracts grow longer. Policies grow denser. Responsibility for comprehension is placed entirely on individuals, even as the texts themselves become increasingly unreadable.

Adult literacy education exists, but barely. Programs are scattered across libraries, community colleges, nonprofits, and workforce initiatives, many with long waiting lists and unstable funding. Only a fraction of adults who need help ever receive it. The work is essential, but invisible. It does not trend. It does not scale easily. It simply helps people understand the world they are being asked to navigate.

None of this is inevitable. Research points to clear interventions. Early reading instruction. High intensity tutoring. Well funded libraries. Adult education tied to real opportunity. Plain language reforms that treat clarity as a public responsibility. But these solutions require something unfashionable: patience, investment, and a belief that understanding matters.

The United States does not suffer from a lack of intelligence. It suffers from a slow thinning of comprehension. As the demands of written systems rise and support for literacy erodes, the distance between those who can read the world and those who cannot continues to widen. That distance becomes power. It decides who understands the rules and who is punished by them.

When literacy declines, democracy does not fail loudly. It fades. It fades in unread paragraphs, in misunderstood arguments, in debates that happen against claims no one actually made. And beneath it all is a quieter loss, one that rarely shows up in policy discussions.

If we do not read, we never reach what comes next. We never arrive at the meaning that rewards patience. We never discover the story beyond the opening line. If we stopped reading, we would never know what comes after, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

And a society that no longer reaches beyond the first sentence should be deeply afraid of what it is choosing not to understand."

~ Genny Harrison 

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	-	Gamma bucket lid	recycle bin
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -  
- double pane windows
- found the 5$ hardware store coupon
- Gamma lids

Time of Isolation - Day 1995

six years is a long time

in which our plucky heroine makes a somewhat festive dinner while attempting to keep in contact with folks faraway...

The wind is howling outside as I finish up writing here tonight, before doing the last of the evening chores and heading off to dreamland. I am right grateful that the wheelie bins are weighted at the bottom, else my recycle bin would surely have blown over and into the street by now!

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~ a singular feast ~

It was a meal in parts, not a "sit down all at one time dinner". The festive part was attempting to have at least one ingredient in each thing be homegrown. Probably the best of the bunch was the kale bulgur feta salad, where some cubed up persimmon stood in for my more usual tablespoon of raisins. If only fresh persimmon was not so perishable... the taste, texture, and color were a delightful change. (remind self to include fresh persimmon in salad more often in the next week or so). The additional tiny green salad featured some of the last homegrown Juliet tomatoes and home pickled farmers market beets. The roulade, last out of the oven, is stuffed with a local sourdough roll cut into tiny cubes, and seasoned with herbs from the front yard.

Making the turkey thigh roulade is quite a process. Not difficult, just time consuming. First step is to de-bone the turkey thigh, which would have been easier if the thigh purchased had not also included a good-sized chunk of the spine. (Indeed when first unwrapped, my first thought was chicken breast not turkey thigh; not amused to have paid thigh prices for backbone). Marinate overnight in a buttermilk brine: 1 C buttermilk/ ½ tsp salt. (I've been keeping dried buttermilk on hand since 2020, very convenient for things like pancakes, or in this case, marinade) Then remove from the marinade, pat dry, layer a small amount of stuffing over the meat surface, roll and tie roulade into a tidy bundle and roast for about 1½ hours @ 350°F until the skin is crispy and interior is 165°F. 

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Cut up one of the more well used vintage terrycloth towels: half to squares for dishcloths and half as a hand towel/hair towel. The overlock machine makes it really quick to do enough finishing to the edges for their second life. Some of the dishcloths made this way 7 years ago are starting to be worn to a ravelling, but their serged edges hold up quite well. (I pretty much only use paper towels for cleanup too gross for reuseables, but often use more than one cloth dishcloth per day.

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Just saying... Two factor authentication is beyond aggravating. I appear to have turned it off in all the settings (which seems to do as much as pushing the crosswalk button, which gives an illusion of having an effect, while doing nothing), but it persists every gorram time I log into the book of face, AND to my email accounts, AND to my blog. Yes, I understand it's "purpose", but to have to spend sometimes HOURS jumping between various devices typing in numbers too slowly for their preference, having to do it over and over again, and trying to delete links to broken mobile phones I no longer own. Visiting the land of Face is not so much delightful that this gate is worth repeatedly jumping over, though I am loath to give up my emails or my years long hobby of blogging. Such intensive security might be useful for someone with vast numbers of followers, or famous, or an "influencer" but I am not any of those. Sorry not sorry for the yelling, but I am almost tempted to turn Luddite at this point

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Have made a bit more progress on the knitted shrew project, am now all of 13 rows in, and almost to the point of beginning some really complex head shaping. This is probably the most complex knit pattern I have chosen to make; while Fox Paws is a complicated pattern, it has a limited number of rows and repeats, the Shrew has almost every single row different, and the gauge is miniscule. Not much to see yet, just a bit of the pointy end of the muzzle. By doing just a few rows each day, it is remains satisfying to see the small amounts of progress, and keeps my hands happy. (knitting for any length of time with tiny needles makes for unhappy wrists and fingers)

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief dots	greenwaste bin
2	5 jars pickled beets	more chopshop repair	recycle bin
3	1# hand weights	printer connection	greenwaste bin
4	a dozen owls	black knit slip	recycle bin
5	many jars of Awesome Sauce	15 origami giftwrap	recycle bin
6	24 more owls	case for phone	x
7	7 jars of Awesome Sauce	horse kerchief details	x
8	8 dishcloths	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the discarded autoclave-safe German stainless steel bandage scissors Nicole gave me years ago, ever since a handy pair of kitchen shears...
- my everso handy overlock machine, one of many thoughtful birthday gifts from my parents
- one of the random, not yet discarded, pot lids fits on the little crock pot, as a (temporary?) substitute for the broken original lid, hopefully it will work well... metal instead of glass should be okay, I use metal lids on all of my other pots and pans

Time of Isolation - Day 1980

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is mostly pleased...

In the interest of focusing on a small good, rather than the wistful (or the horror) now there is a batch of Awesome Sauce for Ashe & Co cooling on the countertop overnight, made using white vinegar instead of my usual cider vinegar, because of their apple allergy. As opposed to my previous failed attempt earlier this month, timely checking and stirring kept the thickening condiment from scorching, and there are at least five sealed jars ready to share when they visit later this week...

That said, the Anchor Hocking jar lids continue to be unreliable, two of the jars didn't seal. Buying that brand was an experiment that will not happen again. And much to my dismay, of my recent purchase of a dozen half pint mason jars, eleven of the twelve have flawed glass! I shall have to return them to the hardware store; have never before seen suchlike. 

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~ just before dawn ~

sometimes, to be out walking before the sun actually rises can be really lovely, the streets are still quiet; the quality of the light is extraordinary...

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Since the new-to-me mobile phone is not a current model, it was necessary to search aftermarket sites to find a protective case. I've been pretty happy with various Otterbox cases over the years, and managed to find one on Ebay, which arrived today from the east coast. The "Pursuit" series is a bit more "rugged" than cases I have had in the past, but I am most particularly pleased with the integral plugs to cover the access ports when they are not in use. Past phones picked up frelch when carried around in my pockets, which caused all sorts of problems. Also, this phone case has a clear back, which means that at some point a decorative paper insert can be added. 

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Very incremental tidying turned up an additional expansion rod, the sort commonly used for shower curtains. My other spare expansion rod, used to drape the shower curtain so it dries out between uses and doesn't get all moldy along the edge where it touches the tub, has also been used to create  a clothes drying rack over the bathtub. Now there will be twice as much space for heavier things that overload the drying rack in the laundry zone.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief	greenwaste bin
2	5 jars pickled beets	more chopshop repair	recycle bin
3	1# hand weights	printer connection	greenwaste bin
4	a dozen owls	black knit slip	recycle bin
5	many jars of Awesome Sauce	15 origami giftwrap	-
6	24 more owls	case for phone	x
7	7 jars of Awesome Sauce	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- phone case ordered via Ebay is much better designed than any case previously used, with integral plugs to keep frelch out of the access ports
- found another expansion rod, which will add considerably to my ability to hang-dry clothing over the bathtub
- this charming late 19thC graphic of helper angels in the kitchen, found online by my pal Ursel... it reminds me of the whole set of Mary Azarian helper angel ornaments, found in a catalog of her work long ago, that I cut out, colored in, and have been in my kitchen for many many years now.

Time of Isolation - Day 1977

Saturday snippets

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

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

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~ Portland Frog says: ~

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

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

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

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a few more potential ideas for next years Swap projects:

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

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief	greenwaste bin
2	5 jars pickled beets	more chopshop repair	recycle bin
3	1# hand weights	printer connection	greenwaste bin
4	a dozen owls	black knit slip	recycle bin
5	many jars of Awesome Sauce	15 origami giftwrap	-
6	24 more owls	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

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

Time of Isolation - Day 1975

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine is tired but busy ...

...currently making a double batch of Awesome Sauce, aka British Chili Jam; the kitchen smells amazing! Though truly, should know by now better than to begin such a project after dinner, as it takes several hours for the sauce to cook down enough that the pectin in the tomato thickens. With luck, I will be abed before midnight. (this condiment is worth it, though next batch shall start earlier in the day!...)

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~ wonderfully warm ~

A most delightful gift for me arrived today from my friend Ånni: these handknit fair trade embroidered wool fingerless mitts (lined with fleece for extra comfort and warmth) The colors of the embroidery and the style are a great addition to my Urban Fairytale flavored wardrobe. Also they are just the right thing for riding my bike this time of year, and the dense knitting + fleece creates extra padding between my hands and the handlebars, which is very welcome

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well this is a first... Ariadne sent her advent swap package from their town  to here (about a two hour drive) and it has been delayed. As in "go home postal service you are drunk" delayed. When first we checked the tracking number on Saturday last week, it appeared to have arrived in PDX and for some reason not made it to my satellite post office yet. This sometimes happens. Checking again when it still wasn't here over a week later, it seems that instead of sending it across town to our local post office, it was sent to Anchorage Alaska on Sunday?!? WTF?!?

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
- maslin pan is the best for cooking things down
- Joan Huntley, for first showing me one could put up food for pantry storage, and Cheryl, and Britta for encouraging me further. Also "Tigress in a Jam" for sponsoring CanJam, which year long challenge really allowed me to become comfortable with waterbath canning.  
- Ånni sent me a beautiful and useful gift - Nepalese embroidered lined wool fingerless mitts, with blue and white flowers on a black background, so pretty and so right for my wardrobe!

Time of Isolation - Day 1966

Sunday snippets

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

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

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~ who's looking at you... ~

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

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

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

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

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

Time of Isolation - Day 1964

Monday musings

in which our plucky heroine wakes up early...

and while sitting looking out the living room window, enjoys seeing juncos foraging amongst the weeds and undergrowth in the front yard. They may be common, but they are so delightful.

This afternoon I moved some wood chips from the driveway pile to front yard, using refurbished wheelbarrow. Also reconfigured the mulch around the future pear thicket, to keep it from right against the young tree trunks (which is not healthy for them), and moved some bricks into circular edging to keep the mulch in place. Then I was tired. Picked up the not currently needed watering buckets and moved them next to the back door, rather than leaving their uncharming selves in the middle of the front yard. Considering getting this "bubbler" from Lee Valley, and timing how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Could instead of repeatedly filling plastic buckets in the summer, just set a timer to remind self to move the gizmo from tree to tree once the right amount of hydration has been delivered to each one, which would have the added benefit of encouraging intermittent movement

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~ hams and bacon ~

I've been thinking about overlays, the way that history leaves traces, the way that memory adds a veil over what remains or has changed... when I was young, encyclopedias or even sometimes dictionaries would have visual diagrams where there was information printed on a transparent page that would show the locations of body parts, or of the interior of plants, and suchlike. Now it may seem quaint, but it is a resonant concept. When I walk around the downtown, or in places from my past life, my mind populates the spaces with what no longer exists. There is no "Powells Technical Books", no "Daisy Kingdom", and Winks Hardware is now across the river.

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a better shoelace knot ... will have to try it out for myself

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The oldest of my Fiskars spring loaded snips, the pair that lost its orange little closure toggle several years ago, has been kept shut ever since by looping the handles closed with a hair tie, which is less than ideal. Instead, a scrap of upholstery leather, a bit of time with the lacing punches, and a dab of Barge Cement et voila, there is a little narrow sheath that the snip blades slide into and are held in place by the pressure of them trying to open. Much safer and more tidy.

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went to Pearl Hardware to buy some of the special candles that fit in the camping candle lantern. Used to be able to get them at REI. Not that it is camping season, but after The Way Forward this weekend that went over some of the ways to be prepared for Unknown Future Challenges, one of the topics was emergency lighting. I have a lantern for the windowless bathroom, of course, but a second lantern with the correct acoutrements seems like a good idea

Walking east across downtown to get transit home again, stopped in at Dick Blick, and while window shopping, found that they carry a vast array (the full line?) of DMC floss, and also Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash printing ink, two needful handcraft supplies that it is excellent to have available locally. Especially the floss, so difficult to judge the colors accurately online.

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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	reattach wheel to wheelbarrow	recycle bin
4	5 mini amanitas	vegetable steamer leg replacement	recycle bin
5	18 penny luck envelopes	leather scissors sheath	-
6	10 holly&bells ornaments	x	x
7	more penny luck envelopes	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes - 
- leatherworking tools and the knowledge of how to use them
- the varied vivid gradients of maple leaves this time of year
- I splurged on a small bit of black cod for my dinner. It is my favorite fish.
- 'twas a minor adventure: Pearl Hardware + Dick Blick. Adding minor adventures at least once a week might be a way to increase well being.

Time of Isolation - Day 1952

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

heart on my sleeve

in which our plucky heroine appreciates the everyday...

...starting with somehow managing to get 8 hours of sleep. A very rare occurrence, probably related to the 6½ miles of walking yesterday. Around the autumnal equinox is when the summer percale sheets get folded away and the cotton flannel sheets take their place. It is almost time to switch from the coverlet to the duvet, the last step before turning the heat pump to warming the house instead of cooling it.  

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~ stacked skeletons ~

These are more horrific folded on shelves than ever seen in folks yards...

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Among today's errands, a stop at Kitchen Kaboodle to get a new gasket for one of the small glass Fido jars. Those sorts of jars are not hard to find, but replacement parts are difficult, and after the fermented onion experiment, that jar definitely needed help. Was also able to pick up a wooden citrus reamer to replace the crumbling plastic one that is no longer useable, and ended with a satisfying conversation with the clerk who had just signed up for a library card. She hadn't known about accessing films through Kanopy  via library, which is a free source for a wide assortment of documentary, vintage, foreign, and modern films...

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A few days ago, the rear left stove burner started not lighting correctly, and then burning with yellow instead of blue flame. Odd, and a bit scary. Went as far as phoning a few places about a service call. I do keep the beloved stove as spic and span as possible, so figured it was something mechanical. For some reason, it seemed like a good idea to double check the moveable lid of the burner, thinking maybe there had been a splash from a spill or??  On closer examination, looking into the small deep central opening where the gas jet is, there seemed to be what looked like spiderweb?... so, with great care, a toothpick, and a tiny brush, our plucky heroine removed the detritus without actually touching any of the mechanism. Yay! The burner now lights and burns correctly, and there is no need to spend over $100 only to be told that apparently cobweb patrol isn't just for ceilings!! 

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Almost done mending the chopshop-style cardigan. It has all new cuffs made from neckband ribbing. There are a few holes still to patch, though some buttonhole stitch, blanket stitch, and stem stitch embroidery turned the largest one into a heart, most appropriately located on the sleeve.

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

today's gratitudes -
- the back stove burner didn't need repair, just needed me to (carefully) remove the spiderweb from inside the mechanism! 
- got my flu jab today, of the special high dose version for seniors. My arm is more sore than it was from the covid jab earlier
- varied layers for bedding comfort, changing with the seasons

Time of Isolation - Day 1936

a long and busy day

in which our plucky heroine sets her alarm for early...

because the current garden task is raking up the plums on the ground under the thicket, which task has to be done in the coldest part of the day, just around dawn, before too many danger bugs wake up. It is satisfying to rake everything out onto the burden cloth time and again. It usually takes at least four or five mornings to gather it all up, but just with today's rakings the greenwaste bin is almost half full of windfalls and weeds.

This year I left picking the plums a bit late, so while a bit more of the year's harvest has been lost than usual, the available freezer space is almost full, and there are enough frozen plums to last the year. Have made a note in the journal to start picking early in September rather than mid-month

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Betwixt and between working on the conundrum project, the tomatillos from the weekend trip to the farmer's market have turned into eleven+ 4 oz jars of salsa verde. This is a savory/spicy addition to the pantry, although the jalapeno peppers bought at the same time were not spicy at all! I added about a quarter teaspoon of cayenne to the triple batch which added zing without adding pain. Peppers are so variable in their capsicum content

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While I may have missed Karla's yard sale, the remnants were on her lawn today with a sign: "FREE"... and there was a big old wheelbarrow. The only thing wrong with it was the tire was a mess. I think I can swap out the tire from my own wheelbarrow (the one with the damaged handles) and create one whole functional garden tool from two dysfunctional ones.

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Just about done with the flat piping pillow sham conundrum project. Had I left the salsa verde for a different day, the final pillow would have had all the corners hand stitched tonight, but since it is too late for V to pick up the finished pieces, it may as well have the final stitching done early tomorrow. Sigh and alas, despite increasing my estimate, the total hours worked are double what I allotted and charged her for, (even without including all the time spent figuring out the tiny mitered corners, which I had no idea was in store for me). Each sham takes about three hours apiece, between cutting out the pieces, basting, sewing, pressing the piping, then hand stitching down both sides of each corner. Live and learn.

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	4 barkcloth tea towels	box fan grille	greenwaste bin
2	yellow triangle pouch	needle gauge herb stripper	greenwaste bin
3	knitted pony	pruning elderberry	recycle bin
4	8 jars quince apple  rosewater sauce	pruning nandina	-
5	6+ jars fig lemon marmalade	picked moar figs	-
6	dried pears	picked plums	x
7	4 jars pickled beets	small radiator foot	x
8	11 jars salsa verde	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- burden cloth is one of the best ideas I had and made, years ago, and use regularly
- WD-40
- free wheelbarrow, hopefully to make a Frankenbarrow.

Time of Isolation - Day 1920

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine wonders what folks notice about their surroundings...

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~ not bigger than a breadbox ~

I rode past it again, on my way to post the tatting shuttle to Acantha, and took a closer look inside...

Hi! I'm Casey and I'm an artist. I'm selling some of my work through this here art box. Pay what feels right. Venmo@emotionalcowboy. Everything received through this art box will be donated to mutual aid. Tom Sellek box is available on the front porch for any questions or comments. P.S. I call dibs on being the local potter in the apocalypse!

it is tempting to leave a note for the potter, asking about possible options

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Little Wellington is really missing his people this time. Certain noises outside, or if the computer makes the dingdong doorbell sound of a zoom call incoming, he gets excited and dances around near the front door. When we go out for walks, he seems to be less enthused about walking very far, which is also not really how he has been the last few times he stayed here.

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Today the second batch of kombucha is ready to be transferred to the fridge, and I scooped out and set aside about half the SCOBY, which has really been filling up the jar. Apparently you can keep extra in what is quaintly called a "SCOBY hotel", as in a second jar for storing older layers of the culture as backup or to share, which seemed like a good idea, so I've set up one of the other quart jars in this way

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Getting frustrated with the batik dress. Added in tucks to adjust neckline, and while the neckline is improved now the whole bodice area feels uncomfortably "wrong" somehow. Wondering about just putting it aside, (and maybe piecing fabric remnants or even ordering some additional fabric to attempt a do-over of the whole upper half?) Am measuring various other popover dresses and tops I've made to see how they differ, as this is a new-to-me issue. Grrr....

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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	4 jar storage lids	bright rayon top width	recycle bin
3	dried basil	indigotiger popover  hem extension	recycle bin
4	3 jars apple/quince rosewater sauce	bike rear wheel	window AC
5	3 kitchen towels	new apron straps	apple tree prunings
6	x	frame for Pyle cartoon	greenwaste bin
7	x	x	recycle bin
8	x	x	greenwaste bin
9	x	x	big appletree prunings

today's gratitudes -
- Once the overcast morning burned away, the day was still about body temperature, but by the late evening dogwalk it was pleasantly cooler
- kombucha brewing is going well
- friends being able to access medical care, at least for the time being

Time of Isolation - Day 1895

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine notices subtle change...

Whilst walking Wellington just before dawn this morning I found several very overgrown rhubarb plants in the partially abandoned community alley garden, and picked one stalk. My plan is to make a small batch of strawberry rhubarb sauce with the pint of strawberries in the freezer.

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~ art is for everyone ~

These were in the parking strip, right near yesterday's message...

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Sewing thoughts: Ruthie suggested that small tucks or darts could reshape the popover neckline, which I'd not thought of. Some experimentation pinning tucks in places might will be a useful experiment. I think I've figured out why the issue occurred, the question is how to ameliorate? I'm also remembering a rayon dress I made back in the 90's where I pleated the entire upper bodice and then embroidered down the pleats, which was a very decorative effect. Design challenges are the opposite of boring!

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One of the other benefits of the years of blogging, is being able to look back at what happens in various months, repeatedly, over time. This gives both a sense of what to expect, and to notice what changes. Example being that early September often remains dreadfully hot, but by the end of the month it is often cooler and somewhat damp. And plums ripen mid-September as well, so planning for that now is a good idea (though the last time I walked down the alley, that two-legged bandits had picked all of the visible easy-to-reach unripe but already colorful plums from where the trees overhang the fence. I hope the fruit went to hungry folks)

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Palestinian purslane stew: this recipe looks interesting, simple, and tasty. Since there is a little purslane growing in the backyard, it'd be fun to try!

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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	4 jar storage lids	bright rayon top width	recycle bin
3	dried basil	indigotiger popover  hem extension	recycle bin
4	3 jars apple/quince rosewater sauce	bike rear wheel	window AC
5	3 kitchen towels	new apron straps	apple tree prunings
6	x	frame for Pyle cartoon	greenwaste bin
7	x	x	recycle bin
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- a stalk of rhubarb from Very Overgrown plants in a neglected alley garden
- very much enjoying reading Saving the Season by Kevin West (reviewed here at "Food In Jars) 
- even a ten degree difference makes a difference

Time of Isolation - Day 1864

the sweet scent of late summer

in which our plucky heroine takes an appreciative sniff...

This is one time of year when there are some of my favorite flower scents drifting on the air. I remember the first time I smelled Clerodendrum, on a trip through the city... we'd stopped for dinner at McMenamins Barley Mill Pub, and parked a few blocks away, and there was this amazing floral perfume that just overwhelmed me. Took me months, and librarian helpers, in those pre-internet days, to find out what the plant was.

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~ Clerodendrum trichotomum ~

Common names Harlequin Glorybower (or/also "peanutbutter plant") it has the most sweetly scented flowers, which turn into small metallic blue berries surrounded by bright red sepals. If you crush or rub the leaves, they smell sort of like peanut butter. The berries make a dyestuff known in Japan as "the other blue"...

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Progress on the elderberrry tincture: after freezing the elderberries for a day or two, they have been transferred into a mason jar, covered with 100 proof vodka, and stashed in the pantry for the next month and a half... the jar gets shaken up at least several times a week as alcohol and water extract healing compounds from the berries.

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Riding my bike on Thursday morning, and heard a sort of strange ping noise, which turned out to be a broken spoke, which sent the rear wheel enough out of true that it was dragging on the rear brakepad as well. Since I was out and about on errands, stopped at the re-opened bike shop in Kenton, dropped it off to be repaired, and headed for home on foot. Turned out that the wheel needed replaced due to age and former broken spokes. Not that bad, considering the bike is over 25 years old.

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Yesterday there was an instagram post from the St Johns Little Free Art Gallery, with photos of their current group show that just refilled the box, so was tempted to take an evening ride (fingers crossed it didn't rain on me)... there, as well as all sorts of 2D artwork was this adorable little 2" ceramic rattle/bell ornament shaped like a the love child of a gyoza dumpling and a grumpy goldfish. This reminds me of my intention to eventually create a sort of blank wreath that I can add the various trinkets from the advent swaps; this little fish would be a great addition...

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Insomnia bit hard last night, and then waking up from a nightmare at 3am didn't do me any favors either, so a long afternoon nap was inevitable. My planned chores and activity for today mostly didn't happen, though I did hang the laundry on the line before succumbing to magnetic bed attraction. First task on waking up again was to water the treelings. Then it occurred to me that the basil surrounding Juliet-the-tomato could be trimmed and the leaves set to dry for wintertime use, the kitchen smells wonderfully of basil.

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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	4 jar storage lids	bright rayon top width	recycle bin
3	-	indigotiger popover  hem extension	recycle bin
4	-	bike rear wheel	window AC
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes - 
- Ariadne mentioned Piel de Sapo melon, so when I saw some at the market, had to try it... so yummy!
- we didn't get much if any rain, but it has cooled down a little bit, and is a bit less muggy
- two delightful treats from the Little Free Art Gallery

Time of Isolation - Day 1853

Elderberry season

in which our plucky heroine continues enjoying small views of the natural world...

Tuesday morning I'd once again watered all the young trees and potted plants so they could survive another day of triple digit heat... and I noticed a bee had approached the empty hydration station (that I was about to refill). I slowly and carefully added water to halfway up the stepping stones. Got to see her stay and drink, and hopefully take the information back to her hive sisters.

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~ the harvest begins ~

One of this mornings activities was clipping most of the easily reached elderberries, and removing them from the stemmy clusters, to facilitate starting the process of preserving. This year my plan is to make an alcohol based tincture, as that is the most shelf stable option. It will require me to purchase some suitable alcohol, and most of what I've read suggests 100 proof vodka, not something I keep on hand here at Acorn Cottage!

Last year I tried freezing the berries before removing them from the stems, but ended up with a big bag full of stem fragments mixed with fruit, which was so annoying to try and separate that the whole thing went in the compost bin. It wasn't terribly difficult to pull the fruit off the stems this time, and now there is a tray of nice clean washed berries in the freezer awaiting the next step... Hopefully more berries will join the party, as the plan is to thin the black elder and gradually bring the whole plant a bit closer to the ground level for easier picking! According to my reading, they either get pruned in early spring, or after the fruit is ripe (which makes sense, so as to not cut off future abundance) Pruning video, and web info

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Slow if steady progress on the Laurel wreath circular border printing block - with only carving one leaf per day, my wrists will remain less cranky, and the block will still be completed by the end of the month.

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In the credit card saga, it continues being a terrible tangle... As you may recall, in the middle of July suddenly and unexpectedly I found my card invalidated. Apparently at the beginning of last month, the company decided for some internal reason having nothing to do with cardholders to reissue new cards to all, with new numbers. They did not mail out any notification of this change, and no new card showed up here at Acorn Cottage, despite being posted at the beginning of July. So, after contacting them, I was eventually (two weeks later) reissued a new card with a new number, so all should be good?? 

Not so fast... the new card, like all new cards, needs to be "activated" which usually (in the past) involves phoning in and answering many repetitive queries before finally being able to sign the back and use said card. Well... the phone tree was so troublesome, sending me round and round without ever moving on to the next stage, that it seemed like a better option to attempt to speak with an actual customer service person to make progress. Sigh. The polite gentleman on the phone kept trying, asking all the same questions over and over again, but finally told me that he could not activate the card and that it would be necessary to speak with some sort of upper level customer service. Who would (probably) phone me in the next several days. In the meantime, no useable card for at this point at least a month. 

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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	4 jar storage lids	bright rayon top width	recycle bin
3	-	indigotiger popover  hem extension	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 - 
- Kanopy has one of the films I had been hoping to access
- I found a local source that sells single replacement gaskets for Le Parfait, so I can reuse the jar I foolishly used to hold lacto-fermented red onions!
- watching a bee drink from the hydration station
- Even though the clusters are fragmented and partially empty, there still is quite a bit of ripe fruit on the European Black Elder in the parking strip.
- cooler weather this evening
- I managed to not lose my temper at the unfortunate customer service person, after I'd already spent an hour on the phone tree carousel, and with him not being able to help me either. Indeed, I apolgised to him for my grouchy voice, since it was not his doing that caused the problems. There is a special hell for the people who create and program dysfunctional phone trees, and I hope those people spend their afterlife in a forest of useless queries

Time of Isolation - Day 1850