Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine makes small improvements...

This morning, after putting away the now dry dishes from last night, it became apparent that my long time method of using a towel under the dish drainer to catch extra drips was less than ideal for the crap formica countertop. Usually I remember to pull the towel out after it has done the job, which lets the counter dry out overnight as the damp dishes do the same. 

In the interest of not creating a mold farm, instead there was an Ikea excursion. They had VÄLVÅRDAD in stock, a powder coated metal catch tray large enough to (probably) fit the dish rack here. While I'd cleverly cut a piece of kraft paper the size of the bottom of my dish rack to take with to check the size, when tray and rack were in the same place it turned out I'd not accounted for the thickness of the wire legs. Fortunately, I have tools! There was good use made of the rawhide mallet and the stump; with crashings and bashings the legs were bent just enough to fit neatly inside the tray edges.

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~ very very sharp ~

Last night, inspired by this Instagram post, I finished making a sharpener for fabric marking chalks, from an old carved wooden box, hardware bits, and some new double edged razor blades (surprisingly cheap!). While my sharpening box didn't turn out quite the same as those others, it works eversomuch better and faster than scraping away at the edge of the chalk with a knife or scissors blade. The wooden box itself is at least fifty years old, maybe more, and likely came from an "import store" when I was young, and this will be a way of using it for something that will see more frequent use than tucked away on a closet shelf holding random smaller trinkets. 

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Well that was a bit of a perturbing minor memory fail... One of the several times living in the Lexington house with friends, the year after the Allston household broke apart, some of us moved there and kept living together. I've very few memories of those not particularly happy years. At my sisters husbands class reunion, one of the men (Doug Weston) from way back then ran into her and sent his regards. I'm embarrassed to not remember him, by face or by name, perhaps he was more Gary's friend than mine??.

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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	dishrack tray	recycle bin
3	boro basket 2	-	-
4	boro basket 3	-	-
5	boro basket 4	-	-
6	sharpening box	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- mostly functional public transit
- when an Instagram inspiration actually works
- the stump Bill gave me

Time of Isolation - Day 2134

baby bears chair and other miscellany

in which our plucky heroine makes plans...

There are eversomany projects here that need done or that would be desirable. The next few days I'd like to finish the flannel shirt, and finish sampling the raincoat toggle spacing (for my personal projects) and finish the tiny bezels for the Babs brooch project... Maybe find the tarp pieces intended to bridge the gap between the porch and the walkway; getting that built will be very helpful.

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~ the past brought forward ~

This small Chinese rug holds some of my very early memories. It was originally my Nana's, possibly a wedding gift a hundred years ago, and now warms the floor next to my bed, one of the few objects salvaged after my parents demise that made it here to Acorn Cottage. The colors are vivid yet subtle, and looking at it carefully to draw it today, I also was surprised to see that some of its shapes and patterns that still reverberate in my own artwork. 

This is the only sewing machine I purchased new. Prior to this Bernette 330, once I left living with my parents, I had assorted machines from yard sales or thrift stores, none good enough to put money into repairing them when they broke down. I have been using this machine for almost 40 years now, and while it isn't fancy, it is wonderfully reliable, and has sewn everything I've asked it to, from a canvas tent to lightweight lingerie. Past Me was clever enough to buy a walking foot for the machine at the same time, and that attachment is in use several times a year at the very least

The furniture in my home comes from four different places... there are a few pieces that I've had all my life, two small bookcases and two chests of drawers, all rather battered by now, but full of memory. I believe they were bought from one of those "unfinished furniture" stores back in the 50's and furbished by my dad. I have a fair amount of "Ivar" and various other solid wood pieces from IKEA. I have a table, several small shelves and most especially my wooden bedframe that were handmade by friends. 

However, at least half of the furnishings here at Acorn Cottage are vintage or salvage of some kind. When I found this chair at the local resale shop, I could tell it was something special, firstly because it was just my size. Most chairs are too tall, and the seats are too deep for my petite self. On closer examination, the graceful shaping, and the beautiful through wedges of the legs were very worthy of notice. It had at that time a label on the back of the back rung that said "Ercol", a manufacturer uncommon here that I was not familiar with. I feel lucky to have found this unexpectedly affordable gem in a shop where it was not appreciated. It is my favorite chair.

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The switch to my bedside lamp stopped working on Monday.  I headed out yesterday to the hardware store in hope that they might have a replacement switch. Fortunately, they did. In the process of taking the lamp all the way apart to replace the broken switch, I noticed that the harp framework that holds the shade to the light socket was falling to pieces, with three of the four welds broken.

While I have a lot of skills, welding steel isn't one of them. But I do have a useful assortment of chemical bonding agents aka glue. It seemed like a good job for "Milliput", a very superior sort of epoxy putty, and that proved to be the case. After mixing up a tiny batch, I used it to sandwich the broken pieces together in the correct position, and after a few hours the putty set stone hard, and once the lamp was reassambled, it was back in service.

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Our winter weather is being odd. Nowhere near as much rain as would be ideal, and not as cold as previous years, though still plenty cold enough for wooly cardigans and layered leggings. And, as we head towards February, the patch of snowdrops in the front yard are blooming, and I saw two honeybees busy there.

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Today I happened to see a newspaper, a NYT business section lying on the table at the floral counter of the grocery store. The headline was something like "Gold tops $5000/oz". Of course I had to look more closely, for while I don't use gold, I have been using silver in my metalwork for many years. Probably not so much going forward, since silver too has skyrocketed in price. A few months ago it was under $30/oz, but it is now over $100/oz! I don't ever keep metal on hand, but only purchase just enough for a project if a client commissions me and pays a deposit, because silver has always been volatile in price, but in all my many years, I have never seen fluctuations or prices like this. I suspect I shall have to learn a new way to work, for the most part without silver. This will create serious technical challenges, as enamel behaves differently and changes colors depending on the substrate. 

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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	calendar master pages	new bin for  cedar shakes	orangeflower water
3	5+ jars fig mostarda	drawstring cords	large broken bin
4	page 2 resipei	workbench tidy	2 bags paper
5	-	bedside lamp	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

Monday's gratitudes -
- a beautiful Chinese rug that graces my bedside floor
- a very tasty Thai dinner
- Mikki is patient and kind

Tuesday's gratitudes - 
- finding out what is probably causing my tech trouble, and incidentally also finding out it is NOT my laptop
- early bedtime
- unexpectedly saw Helga at the grocery store, and she was able to give me my eye drops from Costco.

Wednesday's gratitudes -
- one major admin task is finally completed
- got over 8 hours of sleep due to early bedtime last night
- found some tiny alder cones for the miniature trinket shelves

Time of Isolation - Day 2029

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

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine has one problem sorted...

So far up until today, it has been a struggle to find a way to process photo images. My pal Leslie pointed me towards Canva's Affinity, a robust three-fold program recently released as free. It seems like it will be a suitable replacement for my beloved venerable Photoshop, once I've learnt my way around, and Affinity also has layout and vector graphics capability, which are things new to me... A chance to learn some new skills, with a friend who is really familiar with the program to share pointers and answer questions. Who could ask for a better outcome?

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Attempted baking a small gingerbread, following this recipe. I suspect that using gluten free baking mix instead of wheat flour affected the results, as it was drier than I was expecting, and I could have been a lot more generous with the dried ginger. Using the other half of the lemon from the recent Demonology (Avgolemono) soup, a lemon glaze will probably improve it. (mix powdered sugar with fresh lemon juice, drizzle over cooled cake and let sit for at least a half hour) I'm really happy with my new wooden lemon reamer, which works much better than my former plastic juicer, though it leaves me the task of catching any lemon seeds...

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Late last month I ordered some new charger cables, initially thinking that was the problem with my phone. And having a few more cables is always useful. But I must not have been paying as much attention as would be advised when I placed my order, since I ordered one of the two Startech cables with the wrong type of connector, a "mini USB B male" instead of a "micro USB B male". Oops! The difference was obvious when they arrived. So... I phoned B&H customer service to find out what my options were. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that they would willingly take back my error, and indeed emailed me a return FedEx postage paid form, and will refund my payment once it arrived back in NYC. I will of course be ordering from them again, good customer service ought be rewarded!

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~ slightly more subtle ~

When this kerchief was new, the horse had appaloosa spots made from blue sequins, but in the interim, repeated laundering removed the blue color, so the center front had instead a group of very bright sparkly sequins, which didn't please me as much. Today all the sequins were removed and replaced with simple embroidered spots instead, just a bit less obtrusive...

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This is a fascinating bit of information, about how we come into the world wired for tactile communication... 

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	horse kerchief	-
2	5 jars pickled beets	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Leslie pointed me towards the free "Affinity" graphics program
- generous return policy B&H Photo/Video (in NYC)
- the scent of gingerbread

Time of Isolation - Day 1960

Saturday surprise and other snippets

in which our plucky heroine heads into harvest season...

After looking up the recipe for fig and lemon marmalade it occurred to me to check if there were any more figs on the trees. Much to my surprise, there was almost a pound of ripe 2nd crop figs*! As there is about a pound and a half of figs, and the store only has organic regular lemons, no organic Meyer lemons, it will be necessary to make a few adjustments. Math for a proportionally slightly smaller amount of sugar, and substitute orange for some of the lemon (Meyer lemons = cross between oranges and lemons). The pears currently residing in the maslin pan had better get peeled, cored, and sliced onto dehydrator trays, as the pan is needed for making preserves

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~ cool tool ~

Right before the end of last week, just before the de minimius exemption was removed, I lost my mind a tiny bit and ordered this agate burnisher (item G in photo) from a UK supplier. Wasn't sure if it would even be able to be delivered, but much to my delight it arrived safely in the front porch mailbox this week! It is a beautiful and well made tool, with a curved angled stone tip, and a solid metal ferrule and wooden handle. I'd been much inspired by the traditional manuscript gilding demonstration by my friend Raven Qara Ton, and while I had been given a kit of gilding supplies many years ago, it didn't include a burnisher. Perhaps in the months ahead, I'll return to scribal activities...

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This simple knitted pony toy seems like additional handwork (which I am always looking for), and something I can make and donate for SCA childrens toys largess; it calls for a relatively small amount of worsted yarn, plus thicker yarn for the mane and tail, and I've both yarn and stuffing.

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It has been a bit of a struggle bus week, so it really is time to get back to daily daily gratitudes. That simple practice makes a huge difference in my everyday well being.

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Most of the bark cloth purchased last month has become 4 new tea towels for kitchen use; leftover fabric can be pieced to make a kitchen apron, later on this year when that sort of faffing about seems like it would be fun...

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I lack equanimity about some of the changes in our local neighborhood. When I first moved here, one of the corners of the shopping street a few blocks away was the sort of site I refer to as "cursed", it held a building intended as a restaurant, with some off street parking, but just a bit too big and with what I imagine just a bit too high of a rent for the folks who tried to make a go of it. Over the years, there were many attempts made, but the various restaurants soon closed. Then in 2013 Green Zebra opened there, as a sort of natural food corner grocery convenience store. They did really well, adding greatly to the mix of our neighborhood, expanded out into several other neighborhoods as well, but were finally done in by the supply issues of the pandammit, and closed in 2023. I shopped there purposefully and often, as the way to have good useful local business is to "vote with your dollars". 

Once they closed, the site remained empty and "for lease" for the next two years. Now it is surrounded by fencing, filled with builders and machinery, and is being turned into a McDonalds. The fruit trees planted by the Green Zebra owners are being cut down. There is a local burger place a block and a half away, a little Mexican restaurant, a Thai restaurant, and two different bars-with-food, and there is another McDonalds three miles west down the same road.

Two blocks west on the shopping street, the moribund Arby's site is being turned into yet another Starbucks. On the same road there is already a Starbucks two miles to the west, and another one a mile to the east; it seems that every three miles isn't enough of that particular caffeination corporate saturation. The local coffee-and-pastries shop saw the writing on the wall and relocated to a different neighborhood.

Struggling to find anything positive at all in this situation at least a walking distance Starbucks means that acquiring bags of free coffee grounds for garden compost will be easy to do on a regular basis. On the other hand, I cannot find anything positive about McDonald's.  Green Zebra made our neighborhood a much better place to live. McDonald's adds nothing at all.

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Carson Ellis is one of my favorite illustrators, so when her 2026 calendar showed up on social media feed this past week, it went to the top of my list for next year. I'll visit the BuyOlympia warehouse next week and pick up a copy. And, this reminds me that it'd be a good thing to get busy and finish up my own 2026 calendar, which will revisit the theme of "AlphaBeasts".

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

today's gratitudes -
- independent mobility - our plucky heroine is still able to ramble around reasonable distances on foot, and indeed plans to do more of the same
- adequate public transit, to access a new to me part of the city
- I saved the tiny shiny screw found in the carpet, which turned out to be the one that fell out of the box fan grille!

Time of Isolation - Day 1903

*Yet more proof of climate shift, but the figs are welcome even though the extra heat and dryness isn't

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine learns something new...

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

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~ milkweed ~

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

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

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

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

*sewing bird aka kakehari set

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Raven scroll	6 prs Beth pants	recycle bin
2	-	prune² Wanda plum	greenwaste bin
3	-	mulch peartrees	-
4	-	Eames top	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

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

Time of Isolation - Day 1814

savory Saturday

in which our plucky heroine continues slow but steady improvement...

In the interest of making good use of the foodstuff on hand, have been gradually cooking up various items and turning them into either immediate meals, or into prepped meals or ingredients in the freezer. One of the larger of the mutual aid squash was baked last week, but not quite as delectable as I had imagined - turns out it only needed to be more fully cooked! I steamed the chunks for another half hour or more, until they could be mashed really well, and divided the puree into silicone freezer cubes, save my lunch portion, which I drizzled with some of the quince syrup! So yummo!!

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~ venerable stork scissors ~

I'm not sure how young I was when I was gifted these little embroidery scissors, but was still living at home with my parents... I am guessing maybe 14 or 15? In my early 20's when I was working at the leather shop in Harvard Square, I made them this small decorated case of calfskin skiver, and it has kept them safe and sound all these decades. Perhaps at some point I shall pass them on to one of my youngest friends, if they remain interested in handcrafts...

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Wednesday night placed an order online for two Bigg Grip bucket handles, and a garden kneeler from Lee Valley. Today (Saturday) there was a large box on my front porch. Cannot fault their speedy service, color me impressed!! I was already impressed with the very helpful interaction I had with online text customer service person Christopher, who did their best to answer my questions, and even emailed me afterwards with more information that might be useful. I need to remember to write to Lee Valley to commend the good help I received.

The aftermarket bucket handles seem excellent, easy to apply to the wire bail, and while robust, are not too large for my wee paws. The garden kneeler/seat is a good size, is easy to fold and unfold, and will work well for seated tasks. For kneeling tasks some additional padding for tender knees will be good.

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Currently thinking about if I want my next block print to be just black and white counterchanged, or if I want to add color

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The package from Lee Valley was packed so thoroughly padded with brown paper that I have probably more than enough for multiple paper mache projects... cardboard taped into shapes and covered with layers of brown paper and glue makes sturdy containers and shelves. I have been wishing for some small dividers/shelves to organise my kitchen storage containers, not finding something of a suitable size online, and don't have the right sort of thin but sturdy lumber to make something out of wood. But I do have cardboard, and now plenty of midweight brown paper, and glue... 

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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	bucket handle	-
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. vanilla rose quince syrup - so red, so fragrant, so delicious drizzled over some Greek yogurt, or stirred into mashed winter squash
2. Lee Valley is an excellent business, and a source of Very Useful tools and supplies, with thoughtful customer service people to answer queries. 12 out of 10, highly recommended.
3. Lots of medium-weight brown paper

Time of Isolation - Day 1681

the lime and the coconut

in which our plucky heroine makes a warming soup...

It has been chilly enough lately that I'd been craving the pumpkin red lentil curry soup, and it occurred to me today that I could substitute some of the cooked winter squash for the called for canned pumpkin. (ofttimes canned pumpkin is actually winter squash). I've been slowly working my way through the mutual aid box, and finding another recipe that makes good use of winter squash is helpful. I did give the soup a quick blitz with the stick blender to smooth it out at the end, and it was as good as I remembered.

After making the soup, it was apparent that the jar of locally made Thai red curry paste was now almost empty, but later, when shopping, I didn't find any at the store. Looking for it online, there was the behemoth (as always), and (surprisingly) Etsy, but I also noticed a mention of a source on SE Division, which turns out to be "Kati", the restaurant of the same folks that make the curry paste! As I would much rather support local and buy direct, I forsee a transit adventure sometime in the next few weeks.

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More small fixits... The hole in the workroom ceiling has been a source of a waterfall of icy air down the back of my neck when at the sewing machine, as said hole is directly overhead! Now there is a temporary cover: a big piece of mylar bubblepack held in place with sturdy metal push pins. May not be the most elegant solution, but it does the task. Also I took one of the small bottlebrushes and consigned it to the bath sink, as for some reason the sink drain there needs to be brushed?!? out from time to time. Not sure why, I've never known a sink to do that, but it does return the plumbing to proper fast drainage. This makes three tasks to add to the "do this once a month" list.

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After chatting with K about yard design and garden tools, went to take a look at my sad wheelbarrow. Which is still useable, despite the cracked handle, though it is surely not a good sign when the wooden handles are beginning to grow tiny shelf fungus. After careful examination, at least some of the holes need drilled in a new set of handles actually are at 90° angles. I still need to turn it rightside up and check the front attachment points, and also need to find out if the current set of screws can be loosened enough to remove the old handles. I'd much prefer to refurbish what works, before buying something new.

The small child size shovel, while it might not fit K, is just right for me, and not a toy, but rather designed like a normal (adult big man) size shovel. I took it into the front yard and tried cutting through the lawn around where I want to plant the pear tree. Much to my surprise, it cut right in all the way, probably 'cos the ground is well watered and not frozen! I could cut away a hole and put the pear tree in the ground, thereby keeping it safer should we actually get a chunk of time with a hard freeze, and also incidentally fulfilling my obligation to the Department of Urban Forestry. It would be a start, too, on my idea of filling in the front yard with more planting and less lawn.

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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	-
4	xp2 undies	pattern longjanes	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. In the winter, wool is our friend, particularly layers of wool.
2. a surprisingly pleasant "appointment confirmation" call from the passport acceptance office, that ended with him wishing me a "Happy Tuesday!"
3. successful XP2 version of undies, now can renew my lingerie and move the peculiar striped and floral cotton lycra fabric (purchased for $2/yd when Girl Charlee closed their online store) off the resource shelves and into the clothing drawer.

Time of Isolation - Day 1643

two sticks and other tidbits

in which our plucky heroine cherishes tools...

and no, I am not currently knitting, but still looping and cutting tiny rainbow tassels

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~ no good idea is wasted ~

I'd not realised that six years ago was that I made the grey linen gauze cowl, with the multicolored tiny tassels inspired by the colorful varied pom poms on this designer scarf And even longer ago that I made my basic black pom pom cowl back in 2012, when that concept was making the rounds of the sewing/crafty blogosphere.

"Whilst out and about ... I had cleverly packed up this project (the grey cowl tassels) as transit handwork, but somehow forgot to include the 5mm knitting needles that are the suggested spacers. A handy fallen twig, and a bit of whittling made shorter spacers which are actually easier to use than the long double pointed knitting needles."

...in fact the little sticks proved so handy that I tucked them safely away in the drawer full of knitting notions, where they patiently waited until I needed them, worthy once again!

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A girl came up to me in the drug store while I was waiting on line and told me that she had seen me out riding my bike, and hoped that someday she would be able to dress as delightfully as I do! gesturing at my frilled plaid flannel petticoat and denim pinafore...

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~ F is for fungi ~

In the center of the hollow tree stump I noticed these small and delicate mushrooms growing. Very different than the ones that grow in the lawn.

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I need to figure out how to clean out the lint from my tumble dryer. I suspect it is going to be a Most Unpleasant Project, but I also suspect it is long (years) overdue. And it would be a good idea to do so prior to the rainy season requiring all laundry to be dried indoors instead of on the line outside.

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today's gratitudes -
1. It was a sunny day, and I walked over five miles.
2. I found someone outside the local houseless shelter who was painting on the new mural, and was able to hand off the gifted bar of scented soap to somewhere that can use it. (It probably had cedar in it, or some other woodsy scent, which was setting off my allergies something fierce, like I had to put it outside)
3. Vesta gave me the most amusing handbag, it is a large wicker acorn! If I make it a fabric lining, I can use it as a sort of traveling sewing basket, and it would be a perfect accessory for a Brambly Hedge tea party

Time of Isolation - Day 1601

Monday media and miscellany...

in which our plucky heroine has a mildly productive day...
doing various housey chores, and completing a few of the smaller projects that have been on my to-do list...

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Here is a short interview with the artist Shirley Hughes:
and here is a longer interview with her part 1, and part 2
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~ week 7: reversible camisole top ~

Week seven - a reversible camisole. The camisole needed decoration, rather than being the two plain solid colors that were all I had in the fabrics that suited Kenya's wardrobe. The blue "denim" color side, now embroidered with the same motif as the hemline of the bell bottoms, makes them look rather like a jumpsuit when worn together, or maybe one of those 60's sportswear/playsuits made of separates...

I suspect that making this garment would be easier at a somewhat larger than Tiny Rag Doll scale... I used the camisole from the basic TRD pattern booklet, modified to make it reversible, fastening in the back, and changing the criss-cross shoulder straps to plain. (I don't know why I find fixed crossing straps so difficult to use when dressing dolls, but I always switch them out to be fastened with snaps or hook-and-eye instead, or as in this case, to just be plain shoulder straps)

I used cotton twill tape for the straps, which I "dyed" with Sharpie marker; running a Q-tip dipped in denatured alcohol over the markered tape evened out the color really well, and once dried, it is reasonably washfast. I have used Sharpie markers from time to time to get effects on fabric for dolly clothing, such as the specialty motifs for Kenya's dashiki.

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Today I decided that one of my speedy projects would be to make some pressing tools useful for making dolly clothing. I cut a chopstick in half and covered most of it with a layer of wool felt, for pressing sleeves. Then I cut out two vaguely carrot shaped pieces of linen herringbone, stitched and turned them leaving a gap big enough to then very tightly fill the form with wool fleece. This creates a sort of extended sewing ham for pressing skirts and bodices. I expect that these will be in pretty much constant use when I am sewing tiny garments, as their larger cousins are when I am sewing for myself.

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well gosh, my left great toe looks mighty ugly today. The whole area where the chunk of 4x4 hit is an ugly purple bruise. Fortunately it is not very painful, and does not impede my ability to walk or to ride my bike. Wellington would be very annoyed to miss out on his multiple daily walkies!

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It isn't my imagination that it seems like so many more of the folks I know have caught COVID this summer...

Graphic from "Map shows states where COVID levels are "high" or "very high" as summer wave spreads" from CBS Healthwatch...

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 pillowcases	nut chopper handle	-
2	yak print	-	-
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. my late friend Larissa gifted me with a blueberry bush when I moved into Acorn Cottage twenty years ago. This year it has been really prolific (compared to prior years), and I've been enjoying picking berries in the morning, and thinking of her...
2. Interlibrary Loan - I was able to get a copy of "A Life Drawing" (the illustrator Shirley Hughes' autobiography)
3. YouTube, where I can listen to and see all sorts of wonderful interviews with people...

Time of Isolation - Day 1486

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine toddles along...

Spent time the last several early mornings doing various and assorted pruning, cutting back the fig which is starting to overgrow into the good neighbors yard, trimming the flower heads off the nandina, and cutting back the shoots of Wanda plum. Incremental progress is still progress!

After a few days of not-watering, the large potted Oregon Spring tomato was just enough lighter that I could lift it down to the porch floor. I am going to use the luggage cart to roll it into the side yard, next to the clothesline, so I can still check on it frequently, but it can get a bit more sunshine than the shady front porch allows.

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~ do not eat ~
.

Back in 2009 I bought a set of gel paste food coloring, to make a rainbow cake for a "hippie food" theme tween's birthday party. (while I always find the taste of artificial coloring quite abhorrent, no one else seemed to mind?!) Since then, however, rather than for cookery I have used the colors several times to dye wool yarn, when I need small quantities of colors I don't have. In the past I have dyed wool a cheerful orange, to make a Laurel headband for my pal Marya, for example...

I decided that I really wanted some purple yarn to knit a tiny poncho for Kenya, so I got out my little jars of coloring, some white vinegar, the cone of white fingering wt wool, and a saucepan. Before my evening zoom, I measured out 4 yard lengths of yarn, made some mini-skeins, and set them soaking in warm water vinegar bath. Later, after playing alchemist for a bit before bedtime with more simmering water, toothpicks dipped in dye/gel paste, damp yarn skeins, and spoonfuls of white vinegar, I had three different purple bundles of yarn hanging up to dry.

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It is Thursday, which means that the garment for week 6 of the tiny doll wardrobe challenge has been posted -  pants! After checking my dolly clothing tin, all four of mine already have a pair of pants, of various styles. This greatly reduces the number of pairs I will want to make (only a few to send to Kestrel) but gives me a number of examples to share ways to vary the two basic patterns I have used. And maybe an impetus, should I feel inspired, to move forward on making a new denizen of Tansu Terrace, Nandina's father and Kenya's partner Raúl... (I recently found the brown chambray I used making Nandina, which may be a hint that Raúl needs to turn up soon)

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• food for hope: "Trial Results for Longer-Lasting Covid Vaccines and More (Next Generation Update 17)"
• a dangerously wrong turn: "What Went Wrong with a Highly Publicized COVID Mask Analysis?"
• food for thought: "Some Thoughts On The Society For Creative Anachronism" by zzambrosius
• currently reading for fun: "Reaper Man"
• currently listening to: "A Closed and Common Orbit"

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	4 tiny knit vests	cleaned keyboard	recycle bin
2	tiny cargo pants	pruned grapevine	yard waste bin
3	very smol Birks	horses blouse	recycle bin
4	silkworm print	some more pruning	yard waste bin
5	4 reversible skirts	even more pruning	-
6	Peach tinyprint	x	x
7	8 tiny tops	x	x
8	2 tiny cardigans	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. I picked more blueberries - thinking about pancakes
2. scientists continue to strive for better ways to keep folks healthy in this (and future) pandammits.
3. Sewlarium had packages of 0.9mm white marking leads. I brought some home to use in one of my several Sumogrip mechanical pencils; they fit perfectly. It leaves a very narrow line, less bright and blurry than my chalk marker, but will be most useful for tiny stitchery. I wrapped the barrel of that particular pencil with some washi tape, to better identify it in the pencil jar.

Time of Isolation - Day 1475

faster than a speeding paintbrush

in which our plucky heroine sets a new land speed record...

Finished with the Pelican scroll project! Had I worked on this straight through, it would have taken me several days, as it is, it is done in just a week! I am much happier with it, or at least with parts of it, than I was on Tuesday when I submitted it for feedback.

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~ euphorbia euphoria ~

This one is on the next block, adjacent to the sidewalk... my own euphorbia seems to have greatly died back over the winter, but there are still plenty of them in the neighborhood.

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In the "order self some treats" department, on Wednesday I ordered a .5mm carving gouge from Japan.When it arrives it will be a most useful addition to my linocut tools, for my tinyprints, and hence the hand printed art books I've been making in miniature format. While I can do most of my carving with the 1mm Flexcut gouge, sometimes there are fine lines or details that I just can't manage...

And on a much lesser but also just for fun level, I ordered from Etsy a kit to make 14 miniature Beatrix Potter books, all with printed pages as well as printed covers. The sort of easy but absorbing small projects that are a quick dopamine hit. I plan on giving at least half of them to Kestrel, for her dollies and their library.

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I enjoy a vast array of different* creative activities, all of which involve supplies, tools, and equipment. Aside from the enameling and metalwork that are my vocation, what else is in active rotation varies. What a help it would be if I returned to storing most of the various needful "stuff" in labeled containers, instead of randomly distributed around Acorn Cottage, as the effect of the last four years has been. This may seem obvious to some, but one look around my workroom and it will be apparent this is not what happens here! That had been my intention when I moved here twenty years ago, and when I built the workroom shelves, and the repeated times I reorganised things into boxes.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	tiny angora print	computer zone lamp	persimmon prunings
2	5th God bag	blog template	forsythia prunings
3	scroll calligraphy	grey turtleneck collar	yard waste bin
4	Pelican scroll	indigo bunny art	recycle bin
5	-	taxes done	-
6	x	redone bag ties	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -

1. yesterday, in the pile of free things sitting under Karla's little free library, there was a nice square metal picture frame almost exactly the size I need. Now I can reframe the print that has been sitting in a plastic frame that lost it's glass, and put it back up on the wall with its friends...

2. Glerups - going on their fifth year and still in good shape. I have vivid memories of that shopping trip I took to a shop over on Hawthorne, back in March 2020, when I thought "oh, this virus thing may have me indoors more than in the past, having some comfortable house slippers might be a treat."

(with some extra gratitude to Sidrea for her pre-pandammit information about how to not get blindsided by what was about to arrive, and to various online bloggers for mentioning Glerups. It might seem odd including bedroom slippers as a prep for pandammit, but anything that has made staying isolated a bit more bearable is invaluable.)

3. the little individual pill holders from Muji, that I'd intended as less ugly med storage but which were too small for that task, are perfect for holding individual colors of gouache paint, with their snap to seal lids keeping the paint from drying out quite as quickly...

Time of Isolation - Day 1384

* sewing, knitting, tablet weaving, book arts, block printing, leathercraft, miniatures, metalwork, vitreous enameling, scribal arts, doll and toy making,...

the sky so blue

in which our plucky heroine enjoys the day...

In dreamland last night, apparently the activity of the evening was a creme bruleé cook-off between various friends. I was just getting to taste test the Earl Grey flavored one that Marya had created when I woke up. Sadly, it was only a dream...

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~ out and about in my neighborhood ~

My neighbor Carla built this artistic sitting spot in her front yard garden a few years ago, between the sidewalk and this impressive edgeworthia. A bit behind and closer to her front door is a wonderfully fragrant daphne, and on a sunny day the scent is just delightful. The seat is embossed with the words "be the kind of person your dog things you are...", and the border between the seat and the sidewalk with the words "be the change you wish to see - practice patience - tolerance - kindness - love -  ☮ " which tells you a bit about my good neighbor Carla...

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Tomorrow I will start on the Stromgard enamels, but first I want to give my enamel workbench a really good clear out. It always astonishes me how quickly the tops of workbenches gather random frelch, detritus, and bits of former projects. Also, I found another lazy susan hidden atop the filing cabinet, and want to make space under the benchtop shelf for it; they are just the right thing when using multiple colors of enamel, as each of the little dishes can be accessed as needed.

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~ C is for creative ~

I've been making six tiny books for the Countdown to Summer Solstice miniature swap and I needed a way to press them while the glue dried (books are about 1" x 1⅛" x 3/16")

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	red enamel samples	bathroom undersink access	recycle bin
2	turn buttons	-	yard waste bin
3	6 tiny books	-	recycle bin
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. The light coming back on in the kitchen meant I could confirm which fusebox switch controlled that circut, so eventually I can deal with replacing the light. Once I figure out how to remove the fixture from the ceiling.

2. the paddy cake cats always lift my spirits at least a little bit. It was a rough day yesterday, like most Wednesdays are these days, and I really needed a grin and a giggle...

3. my friend Ursel is coming for a porch visit on Friday afternoon. I am going to bake her a Very Small birthday cake first thing tomorrow. Which will be a nice way to start the day.

4. the rotary blade paper cutter I ordered online Wednesday night arrived on my doorstep this morning. Granted it only needed to travel from the next town on the other side of the West Hills, but UPS can be peculiar, so I am glad. It is indeed just about brand new, and came with some fancy cutters in addition to the basic one.

5. There was enough black cotton velour on the resource shelf for me to cut out 3 sport-style bras, and enough non-roll elastic to make up two of them. I think I bought that velour at least fifteen years ago, maybe more. Over the years it has made leggings, knit tops, and assorted lingerie. It will be hard to find fabric of an equal quality, to eventually replace it as a staple

6. I was able to get outside and do a bit of pruning and cutting back today in the yard. There are a bit less watersprouts on the apple tree, I trimmed some of the overgrowth on the japanese maple that keeps trying to invade the porch, I removed the rest of the nandina berries, and started to cut away the large fern that is far too close to the heat pump. I even managed a bit of progress on removing the moss from the driveway, which is a very very slow process with the metal push broom.

7. I am feeling somewhat less dreadful than I did yesterday. I put in specific effort to pay attention to what is good. And it was amusing to me when I was all focused on pruning the rosemary in the front yard; I heard a gentle thump and looked down to see that The Baby Down The Street had toddled onto the lawn and fallen over into the prunings in my burden cloth. The baby's granny was right behind, and picked them up and dusted them off. We both agreed that the weather today was just about perfect.

Time of Isolation - Day 1342

tinybook Tuesday

in which our plucky heroine is feeling baffled...

so, random house weirdness, this morning the overhead light in the kitchen is on again, after not working at all yesterday. I am tempted to just not turn it off.... at least until I can arrange for replacing the fixture. Which would entail figuring out just how the current fixture is attached to the ceiling. Usually I can suss out how to remove lights, in order to replace them with something more aesthetic and more functional, and have done so almost everywhere else in Acorn Cottage. Ah well, that is a task for some other time, someday in the future, as I have enamel samples to focus on today.

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~ well begun ~

about halfway done with the current tinybook project. The paper strips have been folded and glued into book pages, the end papers cut, folded and added to the blocks, and a gauze reinforcement strip has been glued to the spines. In the back is a single almost completed book, that also has the covers added, the title on the spine, and the decorative stamps on the recto side of the pages. All it needs is whatever "text" I decide to add on the verso side of the pages...

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I very much enjoyed being able to borrow the rotary paper cutter from the Aunties this last weekend. It made cutting the pages for my tiny book project eversomuch easier, compared to laying out all the strips by hand and cutting them with scissors. So... I've ordered one on the FB Market Place, "used" but actually new in box, and it should arrive here sometime next week. My "tool girl" heart is tickled!

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~ more than half done ~

The undersink access panel in the bathroom is completed. I have added two painted wooden turn buttons, to hold the panel securely in place. If access is needed, they can be loosened with a phillips head screwdriver and turned sideways. The hinged panel next to the tub surround can be folded out of the way, and then the handle near the bottom allows the whole panel assembly to be tilted and removed. With luck, I will never again need to do so, but Just In Case, it will be both simple and obvious how to access the undersink plumbing in the wall. Why houses are not built to allow this sort of access in the first place will never not baffle me.

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Month SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	red enamel samples	bathroom undersink access	-
2	turn buttons	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. Had online video chats with three different folks today. This technology is one of my favorite things about living in the future, something that I never imagined would become anything other than a scifi trope.
2. The sun was shining today, and I went out for a good long walk in the middle of the afternoon
3. I cleverly saved some of the paint when I painted the bathroom walls (back in 2012), and continue to use it when either touching up wall dings, or as was the case earlier today, when I needed to improve my original less than ideal cutting in of the paint along the baseboard trim. Assorted very minor improvements yield a surprisingly strong effect on appearance.

Time of Isolation - Day 1341

Wednesday in the workroom...

in which our plucky heroine puts everything else on hold...

The current enameling commision, which is on a timeline, needs to be completed and mailed out ASAP, so until it is done there will be little else happening here at Acorn Cottage, other than basic maintenance of self and surroundings.

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~ everso smol ~
.

This afternoon I started on the smallest enameling I have ever been asked to do. The flower, stamped in the 4 mm silver discs, is only 2½ mm across; even with my lighted magnifier it is hard to see the details. There will be many of these little enamels set as cabachons to decorate a coronet that my friend Bill is making

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Music of the Mediæval and Renaissance - just found a link to this recently, and it will be pleasing to have some new things to listen to while I am working, or cooking, or whatever...

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This morning, between my zoom meetings, I was able to take half the Advent Swap boxes to the post office, and get them mailed out with tracking numbers. The rest will be mailed out on Friday. Fortunately the nice postal clerk was on duty, and was completely unfazed by my peculiar project. He even suggested a possible helpful change for next year, for the tracking, if that option is still available.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	6 jars quince jelly	glove thumb re-knit	yard waste bin
2	tiny tiger stripe dress	persimmon pruning	recycle bin
3	Elphinore brooch	steamer basket	imperfect cold packs
4	candied quince	shadowbox painted	recycle bin
5	dried pears	fridge bracket gone	-
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. enamel project is doable... I had concerns
2. I realised that the annoying locking bracket at the base of my fridge (which has been rusting away for the last ten or fifteen years now) might be detatchable. And used my phone to look underneath the fridge. And then used the tiny offset ratcheting screwdriver to back out the screws, and now it is gone for good.
3. I have tools. I have a decent assortment of tools, (if never quite enough). In fact, I am Tool Girl.

Time of Isolation - Day 1238