Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine cogitates...

"don't die before you have to..." This concept showed up inside my head this morning. Have been thinking rather a lot lately about how small my life and my world have become in the last six years, and how my response to that has been a greater and greater "not doing-ness", a curling up and shutting down. I don't deny the effect of the ongoing micro and macro external dumpster fire in exacerbating the situation.

It also seems true that with the passing of time most folks are faced with a lessening of stamina. Thankfully my mental capacity seems to be fairly stable, and am quite grateful that riding my bike and walks around the neighborhood are still within my capacity. It has however become more and more difficult to push myself to be social, when any option now for in-person connection is so very limited and fraught...

Back in the Before Times I had managed, with effort, to create for myself enough of a social circle to almost balance my isolation. My mantra then was "my friends all have busy and complicated lives, they aren't ignoring me on purpose" and I saw folks at SCA events, was able to attend social gatherings, or invited them to visit Acorn Cottage for monthly Crafternoon time or occasional parties or shared meals.  I miss my SCA camping activities, and wonder if those days of being outdoors are now only to be memories. I miss all the various ways of connecting with people and the natural world, and have not figured out any feasible substitution.

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~ it's a big one... ~

not my spectacular allium, but isn't it lovely!

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Saturday my Mammoth flannel order arrived. The colorway "sepia" was darker than I expected, appearing almost like grey squares on a black background, but really is like a subtle gingham of black, off-black (sepia?), and grey. I can't wait to see how it looks once washed and dried, but that will have to wait until after the weekend when the local launderette is open so I can use their dryer. The household tumble drier died back in December 2024; as it is really needed only very occasionally just`for pre-shrinking fabric I've not bothered to replace it for the sake of convenience. (It would take quite a few trips to the launderette dryer at 75¢ to amortise the cost of a new appliance)

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Worm bin refurbishment... I keep "pet worms" in a small indoor habitat to turn my produce scraps into compost. When from time to time the tote bin they live in becomes mostly worm castings it's necessary to remove. out of that and start over with fresh damp shredded paper bedding, usually a few times a year.  This requires removing the entire contents of the worm home, including the worms!

I cover a folding table with a plastic tablecloth and make several mounds with the dark damp crumbly stuff. The worms dislike light, and the drier outdoor air, so they move towards the inner portions of the mounds. As I gradually and carefully remove the now wormless outer portions of the castings (aka worm manure) the worms keep migrating inwards. Eventually there are much smaller mounds consisting mostly of worms. They are now back in a freshly cleaned habitat, full of shredded damp newspaper and ready to transform my produce scraps and peels into castings to make the garden happy. Odorless and quiet way to keep at least part of the household circle turning.

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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	mended pillow	greenwaste bin
6	sharpening box	scrubbed stove grates	x
7	8 jars pickled beets	worm habitat	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 -
- Got most of the way through my morning walk before I noticed my left foot starting to think about being cranky. This is improvement.
- worms have been doing well in their bin, and I've well over a gallon of castings
- video chat with friends

Time of Isolation - Day 2151

thumpings and bumpings

in which our plucky heroine is not howling like a dog...

...but boy howdy if I was one, I would be! Today is roofing day, and it sounds much like I imagine storming the manor house would, starting at about 8 in the morning. My friend Meagn, having gone through the process a while ago, said: "it's like having Visigoths, only you have to pay them!!" (one of my smoke alarms fell of the ceiling! and some of the unanchored trinkets on the hallway shelves fell as well from the shaking)

Yesterday (Wednesday night) despite it still being well over 90, I managed to rig up the catch tarp over the roof gap. Only needed to drill two holes for additional screw hooks. (edited Thursday afternoon) It isn't pretty, but it will hopefully do only did some of what I wanted it to do, larger debris was caught, but most of the porch is now quite thoroughly sprinkled with grit and grime and bits. Moved the plants that are usually on that part of the porch to safer locations to make room for a table of cold drinks and snacks, and to allow workers access to the solar vent fan sitting on a folding table.

Thursday afternoon: the workers had a lunch break, eating in the shade of the ornamental plum tree in the front yard, and then thumping and crashing noises resumed once they returned to the roof, punctuated with percussive rhythmic sounds of nailing. Bits of debris (wood, plastic, and old shingles, as well as dust and grit surround the house, nothing huge, but for now, ubiquitous. (edited: it is almost 5pm, and several of the workers are going around the house gathering up all the sizeable bits and discarding them)  Apparently the roof replacement is finished today?! It will all be worth it for the final result, a solid roof and a dry house...

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~ at the start of the day ~

All the old shingles and tarpaper needed torn off, a very noisy and messy process!

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A few days ago, it occurred to me that the unused spray bottle could be a helpful way to keep the worm bin a happier place for my invertebrate pals. This time of year, even though the house is cooler than in years past, their bedding dries out really quickly. Now, every time I add some food scraps, it is easy to adjust the moisture level if needed.

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I was polycraftual before I encountered the SCA, but it has only become more entrenched over the decades...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Raven scroll	6 prs Beth pants	recycle bin
2	black floral scarf	prune² Wanda plum	greenwaste bin
3	4 jars strawberry- rhubarb preserves	mulch peartrees	greenwaste bin
4	sunblock mitts	Eames top	-
5	catch tarp for porch	filter box legs	-
6	x	new house roof	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- one of the folks in the sewing nomads group managed to find a link so those of us not in the UK could watch the first week of the Great British Sewing Bee 2025. So fun!
- extra spray bottle to keep my worm bin critters happy
-  rereading Super Supportive
- the re-roofing job is completely finished in just one long day (Acorn Cottage is actually a very small, though not "tiny" house)

Time of Isolation - Day 1823

Eugene rinse cycle

in which our plucky heroine gets drenched...

It rained yesterday afternoon. Actually there was thunder in the distance, and the sky got dark, and presumably there was also lightning, but I didn't hang around outside to try and see it. I did realise that the downspout had disconnected from the south gutter, so I ran out to winkle it back into place. Then I realised I had forgotten the laundry, which had been drying on the line. Oops! I brought in the compression socks, which were still mostly dry, but left everything else. Another rinse and dry cycle would do the dainties and dishcloths no harm at all...

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~ beautiful and useful ~

This morning when I woke up the morning light was still a bit golden, and the Wanda plum tree outside the bedroom window was still bejeweled with last nights raindrops.

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In further sewing news: almost done with the long sleeved tops for Kestrel's tinyfolk. I have been fitting the hand sewing into various times spent in zoom meetings. A few more snaps sewn in place, and some decorative embroidery, and they will be ready to mail off to Mud Bay.  I suspect we still have a few more weeks of summer, so I also have been cutting out the pieces for the teal batik popover dress, which I will be ready to work on once I get the worktable cleared away. Definitely plan on having it done by next Saturday.

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Yesterday I went to Portland Nursery right when they opened. My plan was to acquire a new start of red compost worms for the worm bin. They had them right at the register, in little containers like pints of ice cream. I had carefully made a mylar bubblewrap inner bag for my daypack, to carry them home protected from heat, and it worked really well. Particularly as I went to H Mart on the way home for frozen gyoza wrappers, which I tucked on the other side of the insulated bag in the daypack. I wanted to keep the worms cool, but not frozen!

While I was at the nursery I did enjoy a bit of looking at possible choices for the "replacement tree" required by Urban Forestry. There were various fruit trees that had large enough trunks, at a high but not alarmingly spendy price tag. The difficulty would be in transporting a tree from wherever to Acorn Cottage, and then in digging a large enough hole to plant it well. There may have to be a work party, somehow... Fortunately that is not something to do this time of year. The ground is hard and dry right now, despite yesterday's rain.

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I'd been meaning to get back to putting in some scribal time for months now. In fact, it has been long enough that the partially finished scroll on my desk had become dusty! Bah!! After cleaning it off, I put in a good two hours painting tiny yellow dots during Crafternoon, while hanging out with Ursel. Another few hours and I can switch from yellow to either red or blue. I do not think I will ever again willingly choose this sort of textural painting, but it does look quite splendid, and is getting closer to being completed. I am going to have the longer range goal of completing the various backlog scrolls on my list by the end of the year, which will feel wonderful!

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

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

today's gratitudes -
1. Portland Nursery had packages of compost worms, and the kitchen worm bin has been refurbished and refurnished. I am going to add worm inspection to the weekly chore tasks.
2. The paints I used for texture on Raven's scroll were still in their storage boxes tucked slanted desktop. Very handy... and Ursel keeping me company while I painted was great! I sorely miss "scribal time" with friends.
3. There were Asian eggplants at the grocery store. Tomorrow there will be 5 flavor eggplant for dinner!

Time of Isolation - Day 1499

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine reaches for equanimity...

It was a rough weekend, unexpectedly dealing with family issues from thousands of miles away. The pandemic makes everything more difficult, but hopefully some modicum of positive change will be forthcoming...

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~ 100 day creativity challenge - day 74 ~

Tiny 3/4" squares, a patchwork dolly quilt for Kestrel, using scraps from garments I've made for her this year. I'm going to send Xanthy, and the felt sheep, and an assortment of other miniatures to her for her dollhouse. I am starting to think that actually scheduling creative time into a specific part of my day, rather than letting it arise organically may be a good idea. I tend to spend much of my day slowly moving through ADL, and trying to make sure I fit in a walk outdoors whenever possible, and while those things are part of living, they are not the sum total of my life...

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these two books about navigating the changes that aging brings to us all, seemed very useful the last time I read through them, and it feels like time to revisit them again... The Art of Dying Well, and Advice for Future Corpses have been put on hold at the library e-book list

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beauty in the time of isolation - day 269:

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early in March, whilst doing the massive shopping with which I began the pandemic isolation, there was no powdered milk left in the shops, but I managed to find some powdered buttermilk that had been overlooked. This has proved a very useful staple indeed, particularly since while I have stopped drinking wet-milk as a beverage, it is often called for as an ingredient, but dry buttermilk works quite well when reconstituted, or simply mixed into the dry ingredients for things like tea cake. I used the last of the canned pumpkin, mixed with some fresh persimmon, to make a gifty tea cake for the neighbors...

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	tiny patchwork	Nandina's nose	recycle bin
2	2 Kiki biscornu	worm bin rebedded	yard waste bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - I saved the old instruction pamphlets for this years IRS forms, which gave me great satisfaction to tear to shreds into worm bedding... which will then turn into compost eventually... the worms were grateful for the improved habitat!

not exactly pets and other Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine is grateful to not live in Boston any more...

As it was warm enough to brave the front porch sans wooly layers, I made another attempt to photograph the black pinafore... Maybe I should have not been so quick to send the naughty fabric away to Goodwill, as it makes such a matte background that it may have been a good candidate for photographing my enamels! Anyhow, I'd been wearing one of my SCA underdresses around the house this morning, and had the idea to just toss the pinafore over the top, in the hope that the contrast between black and almost-white/grey plaid would show the pinafore better than my usual dark on dark choices. Still had to lighten up the photo a lot to get an image of anything other than a black silhouette.

This did give me an idea though, of making some loose blouses (not as long as the underdress in the photo, more like high hip than mid calf!) based on rectangular construction. It wouldn't solve my "getting the armsceye seam in the right place" issue with modern patterns, but it would give me some wearable inner layers. There will be some experimentation soon.

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The first three fabric spheres for the year long temperature "graph" art/handcraft project. Each one takes me approximately 5 minutes to make, so it will be a negligible daily addition to my morning routine to check what the high was for the previous day and add another sphere.  Each one is about 1/2" diameter. After doing the arithmetic, at the end of the year, I will have a strand that is over 15 feet long. Maybe that is a bit long for a necklace! I shall have to see how that looks doubled up into a length that is wearable... My other idea is to weave the spheres into a grid, week by week, to make a piece of wall artwork, so either way, it will be interesting.

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next time I decide to rehab the worm bin, I think I will do it in the summer... just saying that it is easier to give everything a good cleaning out and refurbishment when it isn't quite so brisk outside.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	A/C cardigan back	worm bin bedding	bad corduroy
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

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Today I am grateful for my "pet" worms... they live in their little habitat in my kitchen, and turn my food scraps into excellent fertiliser for the special plants here... I am hoping that adding some worm castings to the soil around the rhubarb will encourage it to be more vigorous and productive and have large enough stalks that I can do something with this year

an assortment of Sunday snippets...

'Twas a rainy day today, and so instead of garden work, was a day of housey work instead. Started out by dealing with the kitchen worm bin, which had become rather full. Forgive that there are no pictures of this task, it involves a tarp, blue latex gloves and well, a lot of wet and damp worm castings and worms. Now have several gallons of super fertiliser, thanks to my tiny invertebrate pals, and they are back in their wormhome, with lots of fresh bedding (and food scraps).

Once that was done, it was timely and necessary to clean up the kitchen. Not only did all the dishes get washed, but the floor swept and scrubbed. After cleaning for others all week, is just not something am eager to do here at home. I also bleached the spots that the walnut concoction left on the countertops, didn't take much doing, just tore out a few suitable bits of paper towel to cover just the places needed, and put some drops of bleach on them. Let soak for a few minutes, then wipe up with the rest of the towel. I then spray the counter with a small amount of vinegar to neutralise the bleach, and wipe it down again. I wish that I didn't have such cranky old formica, my dream counters are Ikea butcherblock, with a farmhouse sink, but appreciating what I do have, my intention is to take care of it.

After kitchen chores, it was, of course, time to get the kitchen messy again, and I did just that, baking up a strawberry rhubarb crisp. Since there is an adventure planned to go up on Mt Hood again at some point, this time the idea is to bring folding chairs and tables, and Picnic Food. Might need to make some Icelandic Chicken also, mmmm tiny hand pies with chicken and bacon and sage, oh my! Hand pies and crisp freeze beautifully, so can be made ahead and stashed to be used as needed. When I was doing a lot of SCA camping, I sometimes spent a whole day making up little savory hand pies, to facilitate easy packing of foodstuffs. The original recipe calls for making a large pie, with big pieces of chicken, but I prefer to use and make smaller packets.

The other big project for today is patternmaking. My only pair of overalls is very worn, and since cannot find anywhere the original pattern, I am using brown paper and pencil to take a pattern off them. A slow and somewhat picky task. My idea is to also use the pattern to possibly create a pair of pants that actually fits me - don't faint! While I wear dresses and jumpers more than any woman I know, my life now has a certain amount of walking about in the woods, and, well, nether garments that cover the legs would seem to be a bit more protective when it comes to those nasty biting bugs. Will take a bit of doing, as the pattern takes a long time to generate, and then must needs make a mock-up to test the fit.

As the rain did not let up most of the afternoon, I also decided to (finally) swap out the nasty old bathroom light. A while back, I was given a bathroom light fixture that is of a suitable vintage for Acorn Cottage, the lamp fairy dropped it off on the dining room table one day while I was out. It has been sitting next to the bathroom cupboard, waiting patiently for me to deal with it. It is a pleasure to have all the simple tools needed for a job like this, and the basic knowledge to do it.... Shut down the power to that section. Get the stepladder and detach the old fixture (+ disconnect the wiring). Get assorted screwdrivers and wrenches to take down the old mounting bracket. Wow, the bathroom was previously painted green! Attach the new mounting bracket. Reattach the wiring to the new fixture, this time using wire nuts to cover the connection instead of loosely winding some electric tape. Attach it firmly to the wall. After putting in the lightbulbs, attach the glass shade to the fixture. It is nothing fancy, just a simple light from the 40's or 50's, but sooo much better that the ugly light that was there before.

just so you know what the old light looked like,
light bulbs just sticking out of the wall....

liminality + M3 day 24

The specifity of words has always delighted me. Liminal is such a precise word, for what feels such a very imprecise state of being. The word jumped into my mind when I walked into my dark kitchen this morning, the daylight leaking under the almost closed shades, and illuminating the washed-but-not-yet-put-away canning jars on the windowsill.My life feels a lot like those jars...

≈ : ♥ : ≈

Yesterday I had the loan of a car, and spent a big chunk of the day skittering across Portland doing some of the errands that are impossible by bus: I now have the last bit that I need for the bedroom floors project, two (heavy) rolls of HEAVY plastic sheeting to use between the underlayment and the concrete slab. There are three large bags of potting soil on the front porch, which would have been impossible to tote home even with my wheelie-granny cart, and three tomato starts, two red roma/paste and one yellow pear cherry tomato. I was very circumspect at Portland Nursery, but I did succumb to impulse and brought home a young blackcurrrant. My yard and garden are definitely in an in-between place right now. Hopefully there will be some gaps in the raininess that will allow me to mow again in the back yard; the grass is once again alarmingly shaggy.

≈ : ♥ : ≈

Sometime in the next few days I will have a home visit from the volunteers from the Akita rescue group, to check out Acorn Cottage and environs and to meet and talk with me about adopting the dog I met last week. If approved, the adoption will go forward. That will be an enormous shift, welcome, but signifigant. The shape that living with a dog gives to life is not trivial, I miss the structuring of my day as much as I miss the company. The safety and the joy far more than balance out the challenge of occasional travel. After all, even in the almost year since I had to say goodbye to my beloved Smokey, I have only travelled away from Acorn Cottage maybe two or three times. So perhaps before too long there will be another big Akita head looking out the front window, and my late night walks will resume. I have been looking online at lists of Japanese words and names, feeling like she deserves a new name for a new start.

≈ : ♥ : ≈

Even the worm bin is a hotbed of transformation. Well, it always is, but this morning I found these wee little mushrooms in there. I had recently added in some raked up leaves to mix with the damp newspaper, figuring that the worms would enjoy a varied diet. Obviously, fungal spores are ubiquitous, but I wanted to take a picture before moving the bedding to add this weekends food scraps to the bin, the mushrooms are about a quarter inch across and very fragile.

≈ : ♥ : ≈

This week will be work-full, as not only is it a house-cleaning week, but there are at least three projects for others that I want to complete before Thursday, so that the folks have a chance to take the finished bits with them to Egils or Grand Thing. I will be staying home, and if any of my friends are staying home this weekend, let me know and I'll do a Crafternoon on Sunday; I think that my old friend Sharon will be coming down from Olympia for a Portland visit too.

≈ : ♥ : ≈

grey leafy print dress indigo cotton jumper dark grey wool cloth socks glass eye-bead necklace

A little brighter weather today, but I ran back inside after taking this picture and put on my sweater, the day only looked warm enough for "shirtsleeves".

incremental progress, with notes on worm wrangling

Never dull here, but I wish I had more stamina sometimes. Yesterday I pounded in some of the salvaged metal fenceposts in the place where the new henyard will be. This task must be done while the ground is still soft from the winter rains, and I really couldn't put it off much longer. After just three fence posts my wrists were very unhappy, but that was all that is absolutely necessary, the henhouse will form the corner of the new run. I must continue making progress; the girls will be much happier with some shade this summer, but today my shoulders and wrists were pretty unhappy. Incremental progress is still progress...

~ : ♥ : ~

Fortunately one of the tasks yesterday was a bit messy and time consuming, but needs not very much in the way of upper body strength... worm wrangling requires only time, gloves, and a tarp. My little invertebrate pets have been working hard for months, and had turned almost the entire contents of their wormhome into fertilizer... time to separate the worms from the castings, and start the cycle again.

Since I will be doing a presentation on in-kitchen worm composting next month, I want to have the bin looking its best: actively in process, with fresh bedding, and worms eating food. I was given the worlds most wimpy paper shredder a few weeks ago, and it was mostly able to shred up some of the newspaper, as long as I cut each page into thirds, and fed them in one single piece at a time. Still, it makes much fluffier worm bedding than tearing the paper by hand.

But I'm getting ahead...what I did was to separate the worms, which means dumping the whole bin out on a tarp, (first removing any uneaten food and setting it aside to be put back in with the new fluffy damp bedding) and then gently forming the resultant damp soggy mess into a number of smaller heaps. The worms move away from the light and drier air, so after a while you can scoop some of the black castings from the top and away from the edges of each heap. This gets repeated over and over again until there are much smaller heaps that are mostly worms, which then get dumped back into the wormhome to start eating my scraps again.

After six months I harvested about ten pounds of very damp worm castings, larger families could generate much more, and worm castings are great garden food. And just for the record, not only are the worms completely silent, but the wormhome doesn't smell, and neither does their ummm... byproduct. If I don't tell people, no one knows I have a box of worms living in my kitchen. Originally I had them living outside my back door, but the first summer that the temperature went over 100F they all died, so now I keep them in the house.

~ : ♥ : ~

I've been making trinkets for our sale this weekend. Some felt flower pins, and started on a few kittyface needle-books. Hoping to complete a few soft fabric patchwork scarves, and new acorn and oakleaf earrings, and maybe scissors cases from the springtime colored leather scraps I found.