Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is feeling tired...

Though insomnia has got its claws into me, am doing my best to notice the good, appreciate kindness, and manage what self care is possible these days. More sleep would help, though.

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~ kitchen motto #2 ~

Made this ages ago, when I was first learning enameling and taking classes from Oma Michele at the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle and it has graced my kitchen spaces ever since. The sentiment "when in doubt, add onions" still rings true, all these years later.

For those who may be curious: kitchen motto number one is "never argue with a woman with a knife in her hand"...

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The earrings I made earlier, from acorn caps and miniature mushrooms, already needed repair. The tiny loops I glued into the acorn cap to attach to the earwires began slipping out of place. Superglue is both strong and brittle, so not the right adhesive for the task. Fortunately it happened while I was at home, so no pieces lost. Epoxy was used to reattach the loops, and once it hardened after several hours, a few minutes with a 3M bristle wheel on the flex shaft dulled the shine to match the rest of the acorn cap. I'll use a bit more of the epoxy to reinforce the other tiny loops that hold the mushrooms in place, for security sake, and all will be well. Glad to have figured this out prior to my Calder-esque earring project.

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Was thinking earlier about how so many of my age peers are getting various body parts replaced with better functioning aftermarket options. So far I have managed all original body parts (with some missing, and greater or lesser amounts of  wear and tear). I suspect that giving up my car, which forced me to walk and ride my bike more, have been of more help than annoyance as far as my mobility. I am remembering what Dr Rockstar (Dr Winter) my oncology surgeon said to me when I asked him how best to recover from my surgery and he told me: "use it or lose it, walk as much as you can manage to". I continue to take that approach as best I can, knowing that luck as well as determination have both helped

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. 

Learn something new every day. Friday when I turned the corner there was a flicker right on the sidewalk about ten feet away from me. It seemed to be eating ants. Apparently they are mostly ground feeders and ants are a preferred food! The photos from my phone aren't that great, but the first one shows the flicker digging into the cracked sidewalk and the second one is most identifiable as a local flicker... 

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Well dang insomnia has come for an extended visit and my usual strategies are not helping. Been going to bed before 11 and  waking up anywhere between 1245 to 3am in the deepest of gloom. I plumb hate that. Even in the BeforeTimes 3am was always a Bad Thing full of bad thoughts, and now that waking life is not always an escape from that, it is an ongoing struggle.

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 Talenti shelves	Talenti shelf up	greenwaste bin
2	acorncap earrings	2nd pot lid rack	recycle bin
3	teaspoon earrings	painted mailbox	greenwaste bin
4	glass button earrings	Strombecker lamp	recycle bin
5	poppy pod earrings	reglue earrings	-
6	red cube earrings	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- epoxy is more robust than superglue. Remember this and don't use superglue on earring components
- Not having a car for the better part of 20 years has forced me to remain more physically active. This is a good thing.
- I chose well when picking my neighborhood when I moved here. That remains the good thing about living here, that it is walkable with much of what I consider necessary. Groceries, a library, a post office, and bus lines. (The art supply store arrived later but is an unexpected benefit)

Time of Isolation - Day 2225

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine remains stuck in a rabbit hole...

... somewhat obsessively perusing online options for kitchen faucets or mailboxes, without much success. Apparently the way I think about material objects, and what I want/require, is peculiar. So much so that most online descriptions do not even mention those aspects. Of course, I would be equally frustrated if I was trying to purchase my wardrobe instead of making my own; while I have a rather wide ranging skill set, I do not have my own foundry, or sheet metal shop, so am at the mercy of what is commercially available, the quality of which has degraded greatly over the last several decades. Karen's suggestion was to modify my current mailbox to be less ugly, since (a.) it has actual hinges rather than flimsy tabs and pins and (b.) it is already here... So now I am wondering if time spent grinding off the rivets to allow removing the stupid fancy brass curliques on the front, and time spent sanding the patchy tarnished lid, and maybe then repainting the whole thing so it is all one color might make it less of a daily visual ouch. This might be a job for Rustoleum.

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~ wonderfully small ~

took a break yesterday to go see local artist Maggie Rudy's delightful "Mouseland" dioramas at  Green Bean Books. So kawaii and even more precious in person than in online photos.

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Finished cooking and eating dinner by 7pm yesterday (always a goal but not always achieved) Am all caught up on Mt Washmore, and Mt Dishmore, and prepared two different batches of future meals: spinach rice bake, and shrimp stir fry. Yesterday I steamed spinach, and cooked rice so it could sit in the fridge overnight to convert the starch before further combining/eating. As a change, instead of just cheddar cheese, a mixture of half cheddar and half feta worked well; the feta "crumbles" I tried from the store were a bit too strong and dry as salad topping, but added additional savor to the bake. I nibbled a very small portion as a starter while finishing up the shrimp and bok choi stir fry. I sat down to eat my dinner portion of the stir fry and finished off the meal with the one remaining mango. Yum!

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Earlier today checked on the mock orange, which continues to develop new green foliage, and thankfully it hadn't grown down through the pot drainage, so I was able to move it closer to the front door for careful watching and watering.  It needs a good permanent spot (it prefers full sun, so somewhere in the front yard?) Observing where and when the sunny spots are will help, and hopefully later in the year when the earth isn't rock hard a planting hole can be dug. A "floor plan" of the yard would be a design help, since my ideas from 20 years ago have changed, as have the plants over the years...

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Insomnia has some uses, though I predict there may be was a nap later today as waking up just before 3am is not ideal. When further sleep was not happening decided to instead do some simple tasks: finished painting the primer layer on the small kitchen shelves, so they can be painted later today. cut out some of the new mesh to make a larger laundry washbag for the shirt with the glass buttons, which led to my organising the zipper storage drawer before putting that away. By then the sun was coming up, and I started preparing breakfast then went outside to do pruning and fill up the greenwaste bin while it was still nice and cool out. Hacked away some of the pesky ferns along the north walkway, then did much cutting back of enthusiastic Feral Grapevine. I think I managed to remove all the grape clusters, and most of what overhangs the neighbors yard. The wheelie bin is full. Securely packaged up the bundles of porcupine quills promised to Tammie, to be sent off by post later today

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	painted pony spots	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	two beaded dragons	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- I made a really tasty dinner last night, with lots of leftovers for Future Me to enjoy
- my pony earrings now have white appaloosa spots
- Ursel had a possible suggestion for handyfolx
- seeing Mouseland was delightful

Time of Isolation - Day 2207

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine keeps busy and tries to keep cool...

The current task is preparing my talk for tomorrow on the "100 day drawing project - objects of my affection". Back in 2023 I gave a talk on "what is a 100 day challenge and why to do one"... This is a little more specific, so I plan on reviewing my former talk and then going into why drawing is so important.

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~ making the resipie ~

Kestrel sent me the instructions for making strawberry ice cubes, as a two page drawing, which I have turned into a redwork embroidery for the kitchen. I still need to make a proper frame to hang the embroidery, but today I went to the farmers market Really Early when they first opened, to get some local organic strawberries, with the intention of actually following her recipe. Aren't they pretty?

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I solved a specific problem I was having on one particular Discord server, by searching out information on how to "ignore" (mute) one specific individual. It turns out this is possible, and it doesn't notify them of the change, or create any changes in the server itself for anyone else. I just won't see their posts. Apparently I am the only one in that group disturbed by frequent paeans to how wonderful AI is.

I have tried other ways to change the situation, both messaging the person directly, and having a channel on the server for the topic they are enthused about (to keep the topic out of immediate view and let those interested enjoy it). Instead, they keep posting in the general conversation channel. It makes me sad that no one other than myself has brought up the physical effects on the surrounding environment (constant noise pollution, emissons from their power generators, massive increased water use and pollution, and increased electrical rates for ordinary folks that live in the area) of the data centers that run AI, or about any of the ethical issues with generative AI. But at least now I will no longer have my nose rubbed in it each time I go online to find out what my other friends are up to...

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Just finished reading T Kingfisher's "Snake-Eater" and really enjoyed it. Loved the found family aspect, and the details of the southwest desert biome. I'm not much into the horror genre usually, but if there was a subset "cozy horror" this would fit the category.

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I saw online that someone made corn fritters that included shredded zucchini. Since there is zucchini in the freezer, it will be worth trying it added to Sister Gigi's Corn Cakes recipe. My thought is thaw and then drain out as much extra liquid before incorporation into the batter. Stay tuned after the heat wave breaks, no cooking that heats up the kitchen until the middle of next week...

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	replace elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	-	-
4	enamels for John	-	-
5	tie-dye pillowcases	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- local strawberries
- today Teams interface worked okay, and I was able to have a visit with Ariadne. We exchanged suggestions for books to read. Kestrel showed me a book she is working on about cats and parakeets.
- blog search box = improved access to my own archive

Time of Isolation - Day 2165

a long rather lonesome weekend

in which our plucky heroine does yardwork...

started off by refilling the string trimmer, then took it to clear some of the south side yard, as far as the single extension cord tether... Next was pruning: cutting back the parking strip persimmon which is grown so large as to overhang the road, which makes it difficult for folks to park on the street. Trimming the young pears and the dwarf apple in the front yard. Cutting back (currently flowering) culinary sage that was falling across the front walkway, since disturbing bees is not ideal. Also taking string trimmer to the not-peppermint that grows beneath the clothes line along the north side chain link fence.

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It was our long memorial day weekend, and various folks were all off at various events. Most of my usual weekend pixel world video chats didn't happen. From time to time I would find myself imagining the places, usually when the sounds of early morning birds, or the scent of damp air, call forth the memory. Grateful to have those memories at least. I didn't allow myself to sink into despair, though emotional balance feels rather run through a graphic equaliser. 

Have been doing my best to improve sleep hygiene, not staying up crazy late and instead getting up early. Managed twice to get out of bed and walk before breakfast, which is a long term goal. Not sure how folks manage to create stuckfast habits, as the rule of thumb to "just do it for a month" has not been enough. Pleased I didn't let myself lie down and nap this weekend either, which behaviour has proved to be a bad plan for my equlibrium and equanimity. 

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Years ago a friend gave me a beautiful elaborate Indonesian ikat weaving ( tablecloth? wrap?). Rather than leave it forever folded on a shelf, I decided to try and turn it into a pinafore, since it was brown/black, cream, and russet. Wasn't sure there would be enough fabric, so I sketched out several possible layouts. I'd figured on making the bodice more of a bib front with straps, but then realised if the strips intended for straps were instead pieced together, there'd be just enough to make the usual back. I'll also be making patch pockets instead of my favorite XL "teacher pockets" (which take a lot more fabric). This handwoven and hand-dyed fabric is so spectacular I'm glad to have figured out a way to enjoy it often in the future.

It isn't obvious in the photo, but there was no attempt on my part to match or align the various motifs, there just wasn't enough fabric for it. While not quite a zero waste layout, there was no remaining scrap larger than my notably small palm. I did choose to feature the gores with the border design on the long edge centered at the front of the skirt (the ones with no border are on each side, and the ones with the border on the short edge are centered on the back) While working on this project, I was reminded of the images in "The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan", acquired more than 40 years ago. It was fascinating how the robes and garments were cut out from elaborately patterened ikat weave with no intent to match or balance the designs. Later I learned how intricate and therefore precious those fabrics were/are, and the difference between how I'd been taught to sew and how these robes were cut to make use of every bit of the labor intensive fabric. 

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Oh jolly, more things to add to my admin task list: look into what new insurance coverage is available... At least that task has about a half year to get it done. My current admin task is screenshot copying all the images and text from my website, since Pharamond is closing down hosting service. Then I get to find a new host and build a new website, whee!!  

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Have been thinking about a Laurel elevation gift for a friend... my 2nd idea was a knitted/felted laurel garland, but it turns out I don't have the correct yarn for that but I do have yarn to do a tablet woven Laurel band. Am now trying to find out favorite color(s), in the hope that I will also have a suitable background yarn. It has been ages since I've done any tablet weaving. Thinking about a tabletop warp weighted loom, a long term wishlist item; it might be possible to DIY something better than my first attempt years ago with a stick tied to the bookcase, or possibly modifying a tabletop weaving frame

(similar to this one below)

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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	paring knife	recycle bin
4	boro basket 3	cut back mint	greenwaste bin
5	boro baskets 4 & 5	-	-
6	sharpening box	x	x
7	8 jars pickled beets	x	x
8	7 jars strawberry rhubarb	x	x
9	ikat pinafore	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- leftover stir fry from yesterday for dinner tonight, along with roasted cauliflower
- got a fair amount of yardwork done this morning, then enjoying the sound of rain on the awnings in the afternoon...
- Every day I carve a bit more on the new 5th god border block. Just past the halfway point currently. 
- found some new old stock of the good foot balm on Ebay
- the memories of good times in the past

Time of Isolation - Day 2145

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine has ongoing insomnia...

I'm tired of being an adult. There is gorram little about it to enjoy, despite the lie all children are told that "when you grow up you can do whatever you want". By the time I was a teen, I was already adding the caveat "if you want to enough and are willing to pay the price". I will, however, admit to one evening last week choosing to have ice cream for dinner instead of a proper meal...

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~ so lovely ~

Everything about the quince is a delight. It is a small tree just outside the south window in the living room. It is one of the first fruit trees here to leaf out, and the flowers are about three times as large as its other pome relatives (apples, pears, and plums). Later in the year those flowers will become the huge golden fragrant fruits quince is renowned for, that get turned into preserves, and jelly, and are added to applesauce, all destined for jars on the store cupboard shelves here at Acorn Cottage, and eventually special sweet treats.

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There is a tangle with my admin paperwork beyond my ability to solve. Things I thought were done correctly weren't. After about a day and a half of not coping at all, it occurred to me that this sort of situation is perzactly what asking for an extension to file tax forms is intended to deal with. Since the extension is only for the forms and not for the payment (still due on the 15th), I've been spending the last two days figuring out what the amounts due would be if there was no tangle, and will send that amount in on Wednesday. Then I'll arrange for some professional assistance (after April 15) and get everything properly sorted. As earlier mentioned, adulting is no fun at all.

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I've been giving self short breaks from admin paperwork to continue with assorted sewing related activity, that being as close as I can get to some sort of "treat". Since I'd already made a sewing kit for the next up pinafore, it has been possible to get the entire bodice sewn together in the last two days. Am quite tempted to make up sewing kits for the rest of my wardrobe refurbishment: 3 more pinafores (one blue/black, one indigo, and one teal); 3 more long janes (one teal, one indigo, and one brown) and the PNW landscape print blouse.

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Another oops! Recently and sadly remembered/realised that it has been days and days since any of the 100 day drawing project activity. There are 29 more drawings waiting to happen. Shall start up again on Thursday. Have been thinking that it would be interesting to find a way to pin all 100 up at once, though I suspect that there isn't any wall space large enough here in Acorn Cottage to make that happen...

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	dual fold wallet	tiny beaded star	greenwaste bin
3	-	electric bill found	recycle bin
4	-	shirt sleeve length	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- managed to get up, dressed, and out the door for a walk around the block first thing a few times in the last week, which has been a goal of mine for months, nay years.
- decided that the best option for dealing with admin issues is to file for tax extensions this year. Stress level decreased down to dull roar from complete overwhelm.
- Helga sweetly took me to Costco today
- local transit tax only requires Schedule C's included so that one set of forms and payment can be sent in and crossed of the to do list.

Time of Isolation - Day 2104

paint it black

in which our plucky heroine makes steady if scant and erratic progress...

The most exciting and positive thing for Wednesday was dealing with the oak gall ink project. The container had been forgotten in the workroom, and was much evaporated, with a tiny mold colony growing in one corner, ugh. Some internet research actually stated that mold did oak gall ink no harm (and sometimes increased darkness??) Rather than discard the ink project entirely, the mold was carefully removed with a small stick; it came out neatly all in one tiny clump. Next, the very thickened proto-ink was reconstituted with distilled water, a few drops of clove oil added to forestall further decomposition, and then transferred to a sealed glass clamp top bottle. Am looking forward to finding out if it actually behaves like ink!

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~ line items ~

Simple embroidery to decorate the sleeve extension on the stripey shirt, half done (still need to do the matching embroidery for the other sleeve) and well begun. Once the other band is embroidered, I will cut the sleeves just past the armscye and insert the sleeve extensions, correcting the length to be more comfortable.  

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Not much in the way of wardrobe sewing or knitting projects today, but rather more in the way of seeking and looking through paperwork preparatory to tax tasks. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be able to get the rest of the needed papers in order, and take a trip to the library to print out the not-Federal forms also needed. I'd have done that today, but there was minor confusion with when zoom needed to happen. Thursday addenda: forms acquired from library (yay!), and an error discovered in paperwork from last year, so Friday will be rather more problematic than I would have hoped, as it must needs sorted out. 

I did, however, while rummaging for paperwork, find a piece of lightweight black linen just large enough to cut out bias strips for edge binding the stripey pinafore, which is next on my sewing list. That one will definitely be overdyed in teal/turquoise. 

I also figured out a different way to combine wardrobe components - if I wear my huipil/popover tops over one of my pinafores, it gives the effect as if I was wearing it over a skirt! In the summer it is all about wearing popover dresses by themselves, but during the bridge season it will be fun to have an additional choice, and huipil tops can be made from leftover fabric from larger projects. Right now I've only three, but they fold up small, being basically just rectangles. 

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"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all..." 

One would think that after 70+ years, I'd have learned to converse in realtime with other human people. One would think wrongly. Despite my rather bodacious vocabulary, it is all the other aspects of verbal interaction that have been a challenge lifelong. There were whole chunks of my childhood where it was easier to just not talk; I always won "who can be quiet the longest" on the car trips. In the last decade or so I often try to remember that my best strategy is to only offer conversational comments about things that have been going well, or positive observations. When I ignore this hard won knowledge, it never goes well, and leads to hours (or days) of downward spiraling. I really should add putting together that notebook of "Anti-Weasel Serum" to my list of small hardcopy books of helpful info, along with "Useful Recipes" and "Origami Box Instructions"

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	-	tiny beaded star	greenwaste bin
3	-	electric bill found	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

Wednesday's gratitudes -
- when the weasels dig in, I eventually remember I have anti-weasel serum.
- new Penric and Desdemona novella
- the pharmacy tech is really trying hard to sort out my paperwork

today's gratitudes - 
- it is warm enough now to retire the rice bags til next winter
- moved all the marmalade into the pantry, incremental decluttering
- midday phone chat with Mikki
- most of a day before the return of the weasels
- the linear embroidery for the sleeve bands looks good

Time of Isolation - Day 2100

somewhat less than ideal

in which our plucky heroine has eye trouble...

I woke up this morning with my right eye very swollen and painful, burning and gritty feeling, and have booked an express care medical visit. The first available appointment was at 8:40 am... And with my right eye so wonky/painful it means I can't do anything at all as sewing, knitting, embroidery, workshop tasks etc all require binocular vision (Last night it didn't feel quite right, so I used extra of my regular before bedtime eye drops).

There seems to be not only an eyelid infection, but it may be spreading to the eye socket, so the plan is for both antibiotic eye drops and daily pills (for the whole system) for a whole week. Yogurt will be a daily necessity, and my sleep wake will become very wonky indeed as every three hours I will be either medicating, or, alternately ingesting probiotic substances, as the pharmacist said to eat with medicines, but not dairy, and then to eat yogurt after a three hour window. Lather rinse repeat.  

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~ was a sunny day ~

The westside esplanade, where the Willamette River bisects Portland, has a short season of springtime when the cherry trees bloom. Usually I only notice this when riding transit over one of our many bridges, but since today was both not-raining, and not-cold, and since I could do none of my usual preferred activites with only one fully functional eye... it seemed that a local "adventure" was a good plan. It turned out that what seemed like half the city also thought it was a good plan! There were dogs, and kiddos, and young families with babies on blankets, new lovers and old ones, folks on wheels: bicycles, and chairs, and skateboards, and rollerblades. There were buskers, and the venerable Saturday Market handcraft tents. It was far more crowded than our plucky heroine prefers to subject herself to, but in this world of trouble and turmoil, it was actually quite lovely and benign.

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The last week has been a challenge in various ways. Never a good sign when I stop writing here, and stop contacting folks. The nightmares that in the Before Times could more often be left at sleeps door when they awakened me in the wee small hours are now far too similar to current events, and have several times made further sleep that night impossible. Fortunately being semi-retired/work from home means that while it isn't ideal, rearranging the daytime to allow for an afternoon nap is at least possible. Reminders from beloved if faraway friends that my being in their lives is helpful and a treat for them, helps my equilbrium. May the week ahead bring, if not fewer daytime horrors, at least some peaceful dreams.

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Lastly, hand stitching ribbon facings to cover the (slightly wonky) steek edges inside the Icelandic cardigan really added a finished look. This was a technique I had seen in some vintage knitwear, but never tried. I found some chocolate brown 1" wide rayon petersham ribbon on Etsy, and the instructions shared by Hélène Magnússon on her blog made the process really clear. It turned out quite pleasingly tidy, and was not difficult. Should I make another steeked cardigan, this will be good to remember...

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Last year a wee baby Victoria rhubarb came to live here, from the plant store at the end of the street. It survived in a pot on the porch next to the front door, where it was very visible, and hence watered often enough. After winter dormancy, it sent out some pencil thin stalks with leaves smaller than my palm, and surely it needed a bigger home. Earlier this week it moved to the raised bed in the backyard. That bed still needs quite a bit of topping up with good soil, but after shifting some all to one end, and adding a few shovels worth of compost, the rhubarb has a new home, where it will get good sunlight all day, and has good rich soil to send roots into. My hope is that if I can manage to care for it well, and feed it richly with compost and worm castings, in a few years I may have homegrown rhubarb. Fingers crossed and notes made on the calendar to keep it watered.

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ruffle pillow shams	cardigan length	recycle bin
2	clothespin bag	cardigan button bands	-
3	-	cardigan ribbon facings	-
4	-	planted rhubarb	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- I walked five miles today
- cherry blossoms along the esplanade
- being able to get medical attention for my eye, and having the medicine needed be available
- zoom with Jen and a bit of Cathy
- baby rhubarb remains alive and well
- making it back from my doctor visit in time to have some Sewing Nomads zoom this morning

Time of Isolation - Day 2081

Discontinuity

in which our plucky heroine is reminded that we live on a planet...

and not every place has the same time simultaneously.

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~ signs of hope ~

In the side yard, there are buds on the Quinceling, that will eventually turn into beautiful flowers and then with luck into large golden (lumpy) spheres of fragrant fruit. And in the parking strip, forsythia is showing signs that spring is on the way. It was planted there twenty-one years ago, from an alleyway sprig from behind a house that was being torn down. Sometimes what can be salvaged finds a second life...

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Successfully started the I-cord borders on Icelandic cardigan; multiple rows will take some time to complete. Chocolate brown petersham ribbon has been ordered for steek facings. The sleeve cuff ribbing will be removed and a single row of I-cord replace it to coordinate. This alteration/mending project is very satisfying, and will be a constant Dad hug from the past once completed. There are other current and future garments to be friends with it, like the brown chambray blouse, and the next to be made brown linen pinafore and brown ribbed cotton long janes.

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Further enshittification: my local pharmacy is now closed on weekends, as of middle of February. Since I mostly only use them for prescription refills, it was a surprise and not a treat to find this out only after riding my bike over there on Sunday to try and request a refill... on Monday, dreadfully long lines, 14 people ahead of me. Might have been better had I managed to get there right when they opened. Returned to pick up prescriptions midafternoon Tuesday, when in the past there might be only a few folks waiting, and instead, there were even more... I commiserated with the pharmacy clerk about how changes she hadn't asked for had made her job more difficult; she seemed grateful I was sympathetic rather than grouchy..

And a number of TriMet bus routes are being either reduced or discontinued. Two that will specifically affect how I use them are 75 and 19. Line 75 reduced after 6 pm, is a route that extends far across the metropolitan area. And line 19 is being entirely removed, since there are other lines between a quarter and a half mile away. The fact that line 19 also directly serves a major area hospital and other associated medical facilities is irrelevant.  After all folks that need hospital services all have cars, or can easily walk there. If they are going to remove that line, at least they ought re-route the 20 to cover hospital access. Sigh... grrr...

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ruffle pillow shams	cardigan length	recycle bin
2	clothespin bag	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- made it to the bank before they closed at 5... managed to walk to the bus stop, then bus, then Yellow Line, then Red Line, then walking more.
- payment for pillow shams, and then later a photo text (with heart emojis) of them in situ. My various sorts of work are for making specific things that folks cannot purchase ready-made in shops
- naps...
- the gradation of yarn colors of the I-cord center front cardigan bands looks quite purposeful, in a good way  
- Krups little electric grinder, intended for coffee, but I use it for flaxseed and for spices

Time of Isolation - Day 2071

double trouble

in which our plucky heroine gets entangled...

two factor authentication is a good idea in theory, but in practice it makes me want to tear my hair out. Particularly when attempting to sign in to one site it then wants to send a code to an email account, and when I try and sign in to the email account it wants to send a code to my phone, which then wants me to find a code somewhere in my email and round and round. Grrrrr. If I liked playing with strings, I would have been born a cat

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~ mossworld ~

They never get old, I never tire of looking at them. This is from Monday, walking back to the bus stop after my eye appointment. The early morning light was still very golden...

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sewing progress report: lines 5 - 8 on the resipei embroidery are complete and am working on the last underline and then the drawing of the ice cubes. Still finding it very relaxing. 

Finished the collar for the flannel shirt, after carefully trimming back the undercollar ⅛" on either short end before sewing the upper and under collar together. This pulls the outer layer just a bit which keeps the underlayer underneath. It has been edge stitched, and the raw edge basted, ready for when it will be needed. Also temporarily basted twill tape to the center front of the bodice pieces, to keep the bias edges from stretching out of shape before the whole thing gets assembled.

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~ day 8 ~

This little camera was a birthday gift from my parents, over 20 years ago. I remember how pleased they were and how happy I was. It still works really well, particularly for macro photos.it is also really really small, about the size of the palm of my hand, and my hands are about the size of a midsized child

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Spent time in the sewing/guest space today, picking up a few of the larger more obvious items to put away. Fortunately most of what is in this room actually belongs in this room, and will be returned to the storage shelves, at least temporarily. That is what they are for after all. It was a surprise and a treat that the pattern for my long janes showed up folded in amidst some jersey fabric. Particularly since I had been dreading going through the process of taking a pattern from the extant garment, as I knew there was a pattern somewhere... As this is the time of year long janes are needed, and most of the pairs I have are getting rather "worn to a ravelling", at least two or three pairs are on my ASAP sewing list.

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

today's gratitudes -
- Ursel is now on Discord and we can chat there
- I recreated most of the (missing) Advent Swap list
- sitting at the now mostly cleared off dining table feels really lovely. My hope is to extend that sensation throughout Acorn Cottage.
- chatting with Turquoise online reminded me of how fortunate I am, in being able to sit and look out at the various birds in the yard and the sun on the plants. Feeling very appreciative.

Time of Isolation - Day 2020

biphasic sleep

in which our plucky heroine is slightly less tired...

Does it count as a full nights sleep if it is in two widely separated chunks? In the historical past,"two sleeps" was not uncommon. Recently my sleep/wake pattern has been dogged by insomnia, and yesterday exhaustion came over me around 5:30; to the point where going to bed was the only option. I fell asleep almost immediately, woke about five hours later with enough energy to deal with the kitchen and laundry chores left undone earlier, then returned to the Land of Nod. Woke up this morning a bit later than usual, after a memorable pleasant adventure dream about an SCA camping event, and felt more like getting out of bed than had in quite some time...

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~ all tools need a home ~

Somewhere online, I'd seen a cross body clothes pin bag, with the front having two large pocket openings like "teacher" pinafore pockets. My attempt to create something similar to the remembered concept turned out somewhat awkwardly constructed, though entirely functional, and using up assorted remnants is always satisfying. Then, after my first sleep of the evening last night, it occurred to me to look through my saved Instagram images, and there found my original inspiration: the cross body peg bag from Blue Cat Sewing! Her method of construction, kindly shared in a YouTube video, is eversomuch simpler than my kludgy efforts, and had my first attempt not turned out a useable creation, I would start completely over.

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Spent a bit of time yesterday planning the cream/teal/brown plaid flannel shirt, which will be a cozy addition to the wintertime wardrobe. There is plenty of fabric to lay the pieces out, so I will go ahead and use my favorite bias front pattern, which will have the plaid lines forming a vee in the front rather than horizontal bands. Rummaged about in the box of "pretty fabric" remnants and found a large-enough piece of what feels like Liberty Tana lawn printed with birds and flowers in similar colors, that will work well for the accent pieces (yoke lining, cuff linings, undercollar, and neckline bias). Sadly I've no memory where that remnant came from, perhaps a gift?

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I wish I had a way to get the current postman not to leave packages on the one part of the front porch that is always soaking wet when it rains. In the past, the postman would either leave the packages directly under the mailbox next to the house wall (away from the edge of the porch) OR even better, tuck them between the storm door and the front door, which kept them well protected. I tried leaving a note, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

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The faux stone floors of the tinyworld conservatory, and the stone facing on the fireplace in my advent calendar shadowbox are both made from flat sections of cardboard egg cartons, which are a useful craft material. When I saw these little owl ornaments, they seemed perfect for next year's Advent Swap, as well as a charming Halloween decoration for my tinyworld folks. 

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Now that the number at the bottom of my blog posts evoke the middle of the 20th century, it has been interesting to notice what memories are attached. Somewhere, there is a little girl sitting on the side of a hill behind her house. The sun is shining, and there is a piece of paper in her hands with the number 1961 written on it. Someone had explained to her that the numerals of that future year look the same rightside up as they do upside down and that aspect would not come again for centuries. It is mysterious.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
- Bartlett pears, so succulent and delicious
- demonology soup (avgolemono courtesy of autocarrot)   
- three more Advent Swap packages arrived today, and one contained three extra sets of 31 treats, so we can add even more people to the "bonus" list. It makes my heart happy how folks are being so generous!

Time of Isolation - Day 1959

wishful whingeful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine still has no phone...

In the last 7 days, my wireless printer and laptop stopped communicating, my venerable Photoshop program stopped working, and yesterday my gorram mobile phone stopped working... I'm not going to ask what next!

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~ really large flower~

This flower is about the size of my two hands, cupped. It wasn't labeled, in the floral section of the grocery store, but may be a peony? I stubbornly intend to keep enjoying and sharing the beautiful things in the world...

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Yesterday morning my mobile phone completely stopped accepting a charge. (It isn't the charging cable, as it works on other devices) It is probably the charging socket inside the phone. I went to the Verizon store. Their cost to replace the socket was over $200; considering how much I dislike the phone, that doesn't seem worth it. I called the two other places I could find online that repair phones, and the lowest repair estimate was "at least a hundred and a half". All I use my phone for is phone calls, text messages, internet search, alarms/timer, pedometer, and the camera to take photos (no videos). Occasionally e-books or audio books. No games, no video watching.

option #1 - I could get a new, different phone, either from Verizon, or from some other store. positives: would be new, so would have better battery life. hopefully all parts functional. negatives: would be quite spendy. Might be just as annoying as current phone, or even worse.
option #2 - I could buy a used phone online, or if a local friend had a phone they no longer wanted after upgrading to a newer phone... positives: less spendy, possibly even free. negatives: Might be just as annoying as current phone, or even worse.
option #3 - I could buy a flip phone, and readjust my tech habits. positives: Less expensive to purchase, much smaller so much more comfortable to use/hold, would discourage unnecessary time spent online. negatives: would need to start carrying my digital camera with me all the time, and would need to re-acquire suitable card reader to connect SD card to laptop. (found card reader and it still works)

P.S.: before my current phone (Motorola "moto-e") which has a horrible camera/interface, I had a Samsung Galaxy S6, which I loved for the excellent camera focusing interface. But that phone became obsolete for reasons? and I had to get a different phone. No idea if Samsung has changed enough in the interim that I would even like a newer one(I've been told by folks that have newer Samsung phones that my beloved interface has gone the way of the dodo.)

I've pretty much decided to not use "camera" as part of my criteria, as I own two entirely functional digital cameras; am now seriously considering just getting a basic flip phone. If for no other reason than I could get a new one tomorrow from the Verizon store and would have a functional mobile phone (I didn't realise how much not having one would disturb me) And if having just a flip phone turns out to not be enough for me, I can then upgrade not when I am desperate, and after getting advice from folks about what would better suit my needs... does that make sense?

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Been thinking quite a bit in the last two days about one way where I struggle with making decisions. These thinky-thoughts brought on by the current phone situation. I really wish that I had a "tech advisor" handy, that would find me information and answer questions in ways I could comprehend, related to my query and concerns. This need is not met by internet searching (despite my reasonably good google-fu) as what I am seeking may not be important to most people or perhaps only to me...

And I also seem to have a learned fear of making "the wrong choice" that goes back as far as I can remember, definitely to pre-teenage years. So regarding what to do about the mobile phone has put me in more of a tizzy than really seems appropriate. There is a sort of uncomfortable internal tug of war between the "not to decide is to decide" voice, and the "if it is to be it is up to me" voice.  Part of me wants it all to be taken care of for me, which is a dreadful thing to realise at my advanced age and point of view. Self-knowledge is not always comfortable to bump into.

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So far, every year there are new people in the Advent Swap. Not all the same folks participate each year, but that it continues to appeal and have value to folks for participation brings me joy. Every ripple of connection and brightness we can find makes a difference. It doesn't solve the Big Issues, but it is more like a vital micronutrient that helps us be stronger.

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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	LFL books
6	10 holly&bells ornaments	x	x
7	more penny luck envelopes	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

yesterday's gratitudes -
- stayed comparatively calm about my phone not working, and am both asking for advice and coming up with various ideas for options.
- found the missing SD card reader.
- got to zoom with my UK pal Leslie for the first time in weeks.
today's gratitudes -
- the weather this afternoon was an archetypal autumn day, and perfect for riding my bike.
- Rage, and one of Rage's pals, are going to participate in the Advent Swap!
- really enjoying the Block Printing Fest presentations

Time of Isolation - Day 1954

things of unexpected size and other tidbits

in which our plucky heroine takes advantage of a sunbreak...

Yesterday when speaking with Maeva about if the quince might be ripe, her advice was to go outside and have a good sniff, and if they were, that would make it clear! Sure enough, when the weather allowed earlier today, not only was it obvious even before immediate proximity, but one of the larger ones was on the ground next to the downspout. (Wondering if they were thinned early this year, as the ones on the tree now are so MUCH LARGER than any prior year) The one windfall quince weighed over 1½ pounds and is about the size of a baby's head. There will be much preserving this year.

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~ no bigger than my own wee paws ~

Time for a bit of exploration and adventure, an excursion to part of the city far from Acorn Cottage. PDX Dinorama had mentioned online a "tiny Little Free Library, and sure enough, it was so small, being only a bit taller than my (admittedly stumpy) hand length. And there was an assortment of very small blank books, one of which came home with me to eventually join the other volumes in the Shadowbox Library, once it acquires some content...

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Next week there will be three days of free ephemeral online presentations as part of  "Block Printing Fest 2025"... I'll definitely try and find time to view some, betwixt and between. 

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(whinges) Day four of medication. Less heartburn (which was not my main complaint), but throat "lump" sensation (which was) is, if anything, more bothersome, and appetite has not returned. Sigh. 

Further attempts but still the laptop doesn't know there is a printer. Deleting and reinstalling Photoshop did not give me a useable program, so now there is no image processing program either. Snapseed on my phone can do some image correction, but the photos remain too large in dimension and in data.

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Lovely alternating rams horn variation card weaving pattern, seen on FB's "suggested" and managed to track down. Has me wanting to set up a band loom of some kind again. The pattern is from Cerelle Woods, who says "Picks 1-16 repeated yield the band pictured. Picks 17-32 repeated will reverse the twist." There's S threading, which is when the thread comes through the holes from the back side of the tablet, and there's S slant, which is when the threaded tablet, when it's tensioned in the warp and viewed from above, has the same slant as the letter S (\). For Z threading the thread comes through the holes from the front of the tablet, and for Z slant, the warped tablet has the same slant as a Z (/). So! Depending on the weaver, S and Z can mean one thing OR its exact opposite. When I use S and Z, I'm referring to the threading, not the slant." 
If I try this, I will have to experiment to figure out if the threading shown in her diagram matches or is opposite from the Applesies and Fox Noses notation for threading, which is what I prefer.

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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 - 
- the scent of quince fruit
- having Mindy show up at Crafternoon
- found a free online utility to resize JPEG images (one of the several tasks that I'd normally use Photoshop for, sigh)

Time of Isolation - Day 1951

a modicum of satisfaction

in which our plucky heroine reaches a goal...

As of today there are 23 folks that have said they want to play along in the Advent Swap this year! (not sure they all will, and there may be folks that haven't yet contacted me...) And today I finished the final 13 things for the *four* sets (one for my own, and three more for "bonus" sets) I committed to do for the Advent Swap.

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Took this photo yesterday before the rain and wind blew in, and probably that will be the last of the morning glories till next year. Remember: look up, look down, look all around, while we still have beauty in the world...

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One minor thing really needed, better clothes peg storage. Tired of trying to wrangle assorted plastic tubs of them into my pinafore pockets when hanging laundry up. When this cross body peg bag from Blue Cat Sewing showed up online, it seemed a much more useful idea than the sort that hangs from the line. When not in use it could be stored hanging up in the laundry area... And goodness knows there's certainly enough random remnants and twill tape around here to create something similar. Time to do some sampling to figure out the best size and strap length for my ownself.

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I've started using various bits of baking equipment to keep handcraft projects contained or set aside as needed. Not just the obvious use of cupcake or muffin tins to organise small items. For example: when block printing the origami pinwheels, the ink needed to dry before being refolded; much better to set them out all on a sheet pan than loose all over the work table, they can then be picked up all in one batch and set aside safely.

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Gah! in the "one damnthing after another" digital graphical chronicles here at Acorn Cottage... the printer does not work as a printer, in that it does not communicate through the magic of wifi to the laptop, or else the laptop has annoyingly lost the ability to recognise that there is a printer just on the other side of the room. (so, if I want a document printed, it involves a journey to the public library) And, for some reason, my very very venerable Photoshop, which has been working quickly and delightfully for years has suddenly today become alarmingly slow to open. In this case I deleted it from the laptop and reinstalled it, since when I turned on the machine this morning it was unable to open Photoshop at all! I'm wondering if I need to "remove" the printer from the laptop and reinstall it as well, along with whatever updated drivers it needs?

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Today I adapted the Kale Bulgar Feta recipe to better suit my tastes and what I keep on hand. Cut the bulgar portion by half. Substituted Chinese Rice Wine (pantry staple) for the white wine. Used 1 Tablespoon of canned green chilies instead of 2 jalpeno peppers. Added a tablespoon of raisins at the end for more of a five flavor effect. (Savory, Sour, Spicy, Salty, Sweet)

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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	-	-
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 - 
- the delight of conversation with Mischa
- enough tiny treats for my contribution for the Advent Swap assembled
- a better (to my taste) version of Kale Bulgar Feta salad
- using baking gear to organise handwork

Time of Isolation - Day 1950

wishful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine is out and about before dawn...

...at 7am it is barely undarkening, and the eastern sky is as speckled with small clouds as the belly of a mackerel tabbycat. As the bus heads out across the industrial zone, there are moments when the almost rising sun creates streaks of vivid florescent orange light that silhouette distant landscape. Paying attention is always worthwhile.

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~ more wise words ~

This crossed my path this morning, while walking from the bus to the eye doctor's office, and definitely brightened my mood.

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Today started four more tiny acorn cap framed ornaments, and am in the middle of the six tiny star books... which will get me almost halfway to 23. The acorn cap frames are one of the quickest to make, but the limiting factor is having the right sort of acorn caps; it'd be helpful if I'd taken notes of where the various sorts are found. So far my ideas for the final 13 include maybe more of the tiny acorn cap aminitas, possibly some of the felt and button hearts that Ruthie suggested, or maybe the cave horses painted rocks. Who knows, some new inspiration may wend its way here...

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I so wish to be better at "changing the channel" (despite years of assorted practices)... When up and about, can always find an absorbing meditative task to move focus away from grim thoughts. But when lying in bed after putting the book back on the nightstand and turning off the light they come creeping back. Rather the grown-up version of the monsters under the bed. All those "why didn't I" and "what if" gremlins chase sleep away.

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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	-
5	18 penny luck envelopes	-	-
6	10 holly&bells ornaments	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes - 
- my left eye is, in the words of the opthamologist, as good as new. Yay!
- it isn't raining, and I've enough layers of flannel and wool that waiting for the bus is comfortable.
- glue stick is a clever invention
- fortunately, there are naps, when nighttime sleep is elusive..

Time of Isolation - Day 1949